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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29181978">my rebel ways, your utter nonsense</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/robiland/pseuds/robiland'>robiland</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>League of Legends</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - K/DA (League of Legends), Alternate Universe - True Damage (League of Legends), Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Bondage, Break Up, Choking, Cunnilingus, F/F, Fingerfucking, Friendship, Glove Kink, Human/Monster Romance, K/DA Polycule - Freeform, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Recreational Drug Use, Scissoring, Smut</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 13:21:14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Explicit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>24,864</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29181978</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/robiland/pseuds/robiland</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Akali, Evelynn, and their mutual undoing.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Akali/Evelynn (League of Legends)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>34</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>143</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. welcome home, superstar</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>moiratheestalli : I love Akalynn so much. I want them to have a terrible messy breakup<br/>3:31 PM · Dec 11, 2020</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Incheon's oppressive heat greets Akali the moment she steps off the plane, ripped mercilessly from the privilege of hours of climate-controlled travel. The sunset burns a blend of pink and orange, setting the backdrop for the humidity. Her jacket is big enough for her to swim in and doesn't help the heat one bit. Akali would take it off were it not for her tell-tale tattoos; she's hoping to breeze through her homecoming with little fanfare.</p>
<p></p><div>
  <p>The waterfall of notifications that come through to her phone is overwhelming, but Akali smiles fondly upon seeing that the bulk of the messages are Qiyana bombarding the True Damage group chat with what seems like her entire gallery. Filing through their touristy group selfies, blackmail worthy candids of other members in compromising positions, and records of backstage tomfoolery makes Akali's heart ache with a bittersweet fondness. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>Akali taps out a specific reply to a photo of Ekko's locs in little twintails, Akali's much larger hair in the same style, and both of their pairs of hands in peace signs and their lips in stupid pouts. <em>Separated @ birth, </em>she decides. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>The True Damage experience keeps sending her mind spinning with the old "impossible"s and "no"s that Akali's blown out of the water with the supergroup. She has a wealth of notebooks filled to show for how insane the past year has been. Notebook pages, her contact list, her music library, atrocious hickeys taking forever to fade - all a curation of Akali Tethi, the most creative rap artist in Asia, and beyond. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>Within reason, she did away with every notion of what was "industry-acceptable" that had been shoved down her throat during her ascent to stardom with the newly formed K/DA. The too-hot jackets they made her wear to cover up her tattoos, sexist execs dismissing her ideas, sanitized lyrics would not hold her in True Damage. Whatever press gymnastics came with it were well worth the price of re-introducing herself to the world - the stuff she's really made of. (That also meant a <em>lot </em>of hedonistic, young adult indulgence that Akali's still trying to piece together through the boozy, busty haze cast upon her brain every other night. Qiyana's shutterbug tendencies were a blessing and a curse.)</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Once the discoveree, Akali travels across the globe and digs into those underground roots to take a stab at doing the discovering. In a way, it's helped her learn to trust her intuition more; if she can put together a team of people <em>this </em>good based on her gut feelings, only good things can come from tending to that endless momentum. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>Channeling said overwhelming momentum into her art comes easier these. She already feels miles away from her plucky mainstream debut, let alone the grainy videos teenaged Akali would make in her room or somewhere else in the dojo if she was in need of a change of scenery. Twenty views used to make her feel over the moon, full of satisfaction at the most minimal airtime on someone else's screen. Akali's immediate reaction to seeing herself stretching bigger, taller than the Eiffel Tower in the final cut of the GIANTS video was fucking sobbing.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>She could still sob now, touching the soil of her home base. Running around with her new best friends makes coming home to family twice as sweet and stings the backs of her eyes before she's even off the connecting ramp.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>For her dignity's sake, Akali decides on sending a selfie to the K/DA group chat to signal her arrival, because she knows that hearing the voices of her original musical companions will push her over the emotional edge she's been teetering on for months. Not that they hadn't seen Akali cry, or that she hadn't openly wept during group calls or in her unedited vlogs about sorely missing her girls. The crux of this is that Ahri, Kai'Sa, and Evelynn are close enough this time to hold her through it. Akali is wading over to her life preservers after going for one hell of a swim.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>The resulting fanfare from the message is quick. One member is distinctly missing from the mix of replies, but her response comes in the private thread she has with Akali.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>
    <em>Your chariot awaits, superstar. </em>
  </p>
</div><div>
  <p>Coincidentally, Evelynn is also her ride home from the airport.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>The pair had spent a painfully little amount of face time together between now and the time the members of K/DA parted ways ("for now," one of them would always tack on). Save for a couple of days together crammed in between their respective travel schedules (Akali was slammed with press stuff; what Evelynn was up to, she couldn't say), the two of them have relied on all the video chats and cyber sex in the world to sustain their connection. It was <em>torture</em>, Akali felt, that the soft curve of Evelynn's neck down to her shoulder and the burst of heady citrus whenever she hugged Akali had just been a memory. Even though heading out to Paris was Akali's excited idea, she felt sore about being bitterly ripped away from her shiny new celebrity girlfriend so soon.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>The now-short amount of distance between them makes Akali antsy enough to beat her bottom lip into submission with her teeth. Akali treats her girlfriend to a play-by-play of her trip through the airport. She triple, quadruple, quintuple texts Evelynn about anything and everything happening around her. Evelynn only replies to the essential bits of information about her location and treats Akali to a complaint or two about some clingy fans asking for too many pictures. Cutting under the excitement is eighteen months of growth as apparent as the black roots coming in under her blonde, and worry about the kind of change that's hard to be excited for.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>A solo text from Qiyana breaks Akali's anxious focus. <em>so are you going to talk to Eve?</em></p>
</div><div>
  <p><em>Nothing to talk about. Miss u. </em>Akali tacks a healthy sprinkle of Emojis onto her bid of love to seal the distraction. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>Some good one-on-one time with Evelynn, Akali expects, should wash the festering worries and suspicions right down the drain. If that doesn't work, she can do the immature thing and stomp on them until they plummet down the pipe.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Akali watches her bright red suitcase with airbrushed flame decals (stylized by Kai'Sa) tumble out onto the carousel, the first of her many affairs. She takes her place with the herd of passengers awaiting the same fate. Lugging her baggage back into her hands, Akali spares a thought for the others in the crowd who are as flighty as her and anticipating something a little too grounding on the other side of the gates.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>No matter what, though, the sight of Evelynn's very silhouette from the end of the arrivals ramp puts the spring back in Akali's step like she'd just woken up from a long sleep. In a way, she has - it's been a dreamless one without her siren around.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>The harsh lights of the airport mean nothing for Evelynn's radiance. In fact, Evelynn just has a way of making her surroundings seem glamorous with her essence alone; she's always the first one you see in a crowd, no exceptions. The lights cast an ironic halo down her long, stark white hair that blossoms into a bow at the crown of her head. Her telltale lashers are tucked away, like a nice, normal girl. Her phone balances idly in her hands with her attention elsewhere, focused and searching in the stream of people coming through arrivals. A massive pair of reflective shades, damn near a visor, obscures most of her face and calls even more attention to her plush lips than they already command. Especially so when her gaze finally locks onto her target and those lips break into a wide grin, schooled carefully to avoid showing too much feeling in public. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Eve," Akali sighs happily.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>One look at Evelynn, and Akali's doesn't care how stupid she looks when she breaks out into a run to get to her. Luggage cart and all, she bounds toward Evelynn, abandoning her belongings to throw herself somewhere between Evelynn's neck and breasts, squeezing her tight. Standing here, Akali already feels like she's at home.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Welcome back, darling." Evelynn cradles the back of Akali's head in her palm in her paparazzi-friendly version of a hug. The low strumming of her hypnotic voice boasts a touch of honey to supplement the tame embrace. "After that little private jet photo, I thought you'd transcended commercial air travel."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Akali lets out a content sigh at the vibration of Evelynn's voice under her chest. The silken material of Eve's jade green sundress is feather thin under her palms. "Ah, I like to stay humble... is this dress new? I like it."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Evelynn lovingly removes Akali from her person, intervening before her lover can get carried away. Still, Evelynn holds her by one of the straps of her backpack, inspecting Akali up and down like she's making a purchase. Akali assumes she passes her performance review; Evelynn squeezes her shoulder before letting her go. "Was the flight okay, darling? Did you sleep at all? Eat?"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Meh, as good as a 15-hour trip can be." Akali recognizes this as the closest Evelynn typically gets to saying she cares. Evelynn cares; Akali has half a mind to tell Qiyana about that, to prove there's nothing wrong. "I had this weird green bean thing on the plane - I think it had some kind of cheese on top, but it kinda just looked like nail clippings. You should take me to dinner."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Ahri has the evening's agenda covered; she has instructed me to have you hand-delivered to hot pot immediately upon arrival. Queen's orders." </p>
</div><div>
  <p>It's a fairly standard gesture. Even so, Akali's heart swells with longing and excitement for this family reunion. "Kai'Sa's not cooking?"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Oh, that was a fight, trust me. She's on breakfast tomorrow. Come," Evelynn gently prompts with an opening-and-closing of her hand like she's offering to hold Akali's. Akali would love to, almost as much as she would love her girlfriend to help her with her bags. Watching Evelynn turn to lead the way, though, Akali is reminded that she already has enough to carry.</p>
</div><div>
  <p><em>More </em>than enough. More than Akali remembers.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Flexing her refined flirting skills on the siren after practicing on the local Parisian fare is something Akali simply can't resist, now that she knows just what she's working with. Akali keeps her verbal advances on the warm side, but her roaming eyes do the rest of the talking. "You look good today. If I'd known we were dressing to impress each other, I would've worn those leather pants you sent me. You know, the ones that fit <em>real </em>good."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Clearly amused, Evelynn casts a backwards glance at Akali with a pleased grin. "I'm sure you have some <em>petites amies </em>in your black book to play around with. Don't think I don't remember your little threesome stories."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Hey, now, there's no need to be jealous. There's lots of 'Kali to go around." Akali jogs a couple of paces to fall into step beside her chauffeur with a roaming gaze at <em>everything</em> going on in that dress. She also watches to make sure Evelynn isn't <em>actually </em>jealous of the aforementioned flings - Eve seemed to relish in the lusty tales Akali relayed to her, even sounding a bit proud at times. The stories have even earned Akali an affectionate "Slut" title from her.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"You're right. Maybe, I'm even pretty enough for you to remember my name after you sleep with me."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Akali bursts into snickers and mutters something about low blows, letting Evelynn have the win because she doesn't want to talk over the sound of her sly laughter. Evelynn has a great sense of humor about all kinds of things. Another tick on the Everything's Fine checklist.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>The gravitational pull of Evelynn's ass leads Akali through the tall, winding ways of the airport. The rapper is filled to the brim with just a fraction of whimsical tales from the recent past. Akali expects herself to talk Evelynn's ears off with tidbits from the past year and embarrassing stories she promised she'd never tell anyone, which meant she would at <em>least</em> tell two out of three members of K/DA, depending on who would and wouldn't scold her for it. Namely, Evelynn loved being privy to everyone's secrets, even if she constantly claims that Akali's blabbermouth would be the death of her. Despite this and the strong start she was off to, all that seems to come out of Akali now is travel-related small talk and icebreaker-like prompts that make her sound like a robot to her own ears.</p>
</div><div>
  <p><em>Too many eyes and ears, </em>Akali ponders as an explanation. Both her and Evelynn are donning their disguises, baseball caps and shades, but the two of them are still a distinct enough pair to prompt flashes and shutters and whispers around them. Fame has made Akali much more hypervigilant about time and place, often through "hard way" lessons of being a touch too fucked up to conduct herself well enough in public and reading about it on Soompi the next morning. Among the ways she's grown, Akali's gained much more understanding about Evelynn's sculpted, almost creepy poise in public; she kind of wishes she could have the same grace. Maybe it would rub off on Akali soon.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>On the matter, Akali doesn't spare a moment's hesitation jamming the "door close" button in the elevator to seal her and her lover inside, alone. Akali pointedly parks her luggage cart in the far corner of the elevator, inconvenient for whenever they get to the garage and the perfect place to get rid of any obstruction from her girlfriend, standing beside her. Something tangible changes in the air, as Akali predicted; Evelynn treats her passenger to the sight of her eyes, finally, hooking her shades onto the plunging neckline of her dress. Diamond white pupils flex within their gold borders, getting used to the light and to Akali in her full glory. Akali's heart seizes in her chest at the breathtaking reveal of the woman - <em>her</em> woman.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"I can't help but feel a bit disappointed, darling."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Disappointed?" A chill runs both ways through Akali's spine and a highlight reel of the last ten minutes spins through her head. Then ensues the emotional scrambling that Evelynn seems to prompt in her: Akali frets that she's already told on herself by clamming up, wonders if Evelynn's flawless read on her emotions is still as strong as it always has been.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Evelynn pivots a touch to get a good look at Akali, staring hard at her yet again. Akali shrinks under the scrutinous gaze, but loses the tension when Evelynn brings her palms up to Akali's face and starts to squeeze and pull at her maknae's cheeks until the hat obscuring it lies crooked over her eyes. Ignoring Akali's grimace, Evelynn elaborates through pouted lips, "You have been gone for two years, and I can't just steal you away and drink you in because those bitches want to have dinner."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"'Those bitches' are our friends, Eve," Akali chastises with her lips pushed into a matching pout by Evelynn's hands. Her retort has no actual bite to it; Evelynn's baseline of possessive love kinda works for her in some ways. To that point, Akali winds her arms around Evelynn's waist and leans proudly and happily into her girlfriend's palms; a deep inhale fills Akali's lungs with a sweet, peppery scent sticking to Evelynn's skin. New, but familiar. Probably that new fragrance of hers. "That why you're picking me up solo?"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Evelynn finally decides on holding Akali's jaw in her right palm. They hold each other's eyes for a moment; this is Akali's favourite way to study her own reflection, in Evelynn's scary bright eyes with a too-soft smile accompanying their gaze. The siren tells her lover, "I've always had dibs on you, love."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Akali, feeling refreshed by the admission, believes her. Evelynn's touch has such a way of melting the stone of Akali's fear; she's glad at least <em>one </em>of them can make do with it.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Their rest of the voyage to Evelynn's reserved parking spot feels extra agitating when the pair detaches themselves from one another, avoiding creating further material for prying eyes. Akali's brow is creased; she feels utterly left to her own devices without Evelynn squeezing and prodding at her like a new toy. Akali hasn't even been kissed yet. Being close to Evelynn was like a hard reset on the brain, wiping it clean of anything not relevant to... well, Evelynn. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>Getting lost in her is what started the mess going on in Akali's head, and she recognizes the pattern of thought emerge like a warning sign. Evelynn, however, is a glowing green light giving her permission to step on the gas; she would never steer her rogue wrong.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>In keeping with Akali's desire for a quiet arrival, Evelynn has chosen to drive something a touch more civilian-looking than the unmistakable deep purple Aventador. It really is only a touch; her vehicles of choice are never anything less than egregiously luxurious. Patent white and gleaming, the four-door saloon bears Evelynn's signature <em>DIVA </em>license plate between a massive grill and a black trim that almost looks like a grin. Rims like sunrays surround a silver double-R logo, one on each wheel, and the Spirit of Ecstasy is ready to take flight on the hood.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Akali accesses the small bank of car knowledge that Evelynn has imported to her over the years to guess, "<em>That's </em>definitely new. That a Rolls?"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Excellent eye, darling. White leather interior with violet accents, six-point-seven-five litre V12 under the hood, planar suspension like a fucking dream, <em>and </em>I have custom rims in the works. They called me a 'ghost', so I decided to buy one." Evelynn is clearly proud of her joke, boasting an impish grin and a flip of her hair.  "Pop the trunk - I wanna show you the inside."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Akali knows that Evelynn knows that Akali doesn't know what half of those things mean, but she's more than eager to get her grubby little hands all over the new ride. Evelynn's excitement about whatever shiny new car or watch or bag became contagious once Akali stopped thinking too much about the associated price tags. Delicately, almost afraid of how spotless the vehicle is, she hauls her belongings into the trunk and hops into shotgun.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Evelynn still prattles on about specs when Akali spares a glance at her phone. People are still trying to reach her, bidding her their welcomes and setting dates to hang out, but Qiyana's message telling her to <em>stop being a pussy</em> is particularly eye-catching and mood-resetting. Akali flexes her fingers to call her a bitch, but that would be stronger ammunition for QiQi than for Akali herself, so she settles on telling her to <em>Back off.</em> The rapper locks her phone and steams a bit, scowling hard at the constellation of stars cast onto the dashboard.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>The engine of the beast in Evelynn's command purrs to life. Similar constellations cast along the car's ceiling softly pulse into their full illumination in time with the ignition. "Geez. What did <em>you</em> just read?"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Akali screws up her lips a bit and decides to break her scowl once she sees Evelynn's curious expression. Surprisingly candidly, she answers, "Qiyana's being a bitch."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Ooh, what about? Let me in on the hot goss, darling."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Akali can recognize that she walked into this one, and she fully intends to walk back out untouched. Right in front of her is the remedy to her panging homesickness, and some nagging thoughts - or group mates - won't sully this for her. With that, Akali swallows the truth for the day.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"She's holding, like, three of my hoodies hostage. I should send her a fuckin' invoice."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"In that case, you'll have to bill the three of us along with her. Seatbelt, hon." The Ghost remains stationary; Evelynn's grabbing at Akali's face again, gentler and with a touch more skepticism. Akali focuses on returning the gaze and on keeping her thoughts steady to keep her chances of being read at bay. Evelynn attempts, "There's something on your mind."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Akali presses a kiss to Evelynn's palm then presses her cheek against it, trapping her hand between there and the head rest. "Tired, hungry, jet-lagged... kinda wishing it could just be you and me tonight, but I know that's not fair."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>This answer pleases Evelynn greatly. That part isn't a lie, just carefully weaponized truth to stave off the prodding.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>
    <a href="https://open.spotify.com/track/57nReJa69S1lEJGYHLCKlx?si=aWEJtrufSmyv9tL0liNCXw">"Darling, you say the word and we can go anywhere."</a>
  </p>
</div><div>
  <p>With those words, Akali looks at the delicate night sky painted along the roof of the car. In a way, she feels like a giant here, on top of the world and touching the sky with her lover touching her. Evelynn's knack for creating little hideaways everywhere enables that part of Akali that always wants to slink off and be shady with her. Shadows can feel safe with Evelynn.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Akali's gaze is trapped by the starry display. "We should head to dinner, but I <em>definitely </em>have to get high in here."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"There's my girl."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>They don't have to wait to get to the restaurant before they hear from the other half of the group. Ahri insists that they're taking far too long and wants to stay on the phone for the whole ride. Kai'Sa gladly chimes in to chat happily with Akali about the trip, what she'd missed since her own visit to Paris, and to make snide comments about what she <em>would </em>have cooked for them tonight. Evelynn rallies in support of eating out and presses the double entendre, in perfect line with her sense of humor. The melody of their familial bickering feels like a breath of crisp spring air, especially so when they reach their destination and Akali hardly has a foot out of the car before she's enveloped by two bodies and nine tails in a suffocating embrace.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Ahri's grateful tears run hot onto Akali's forehead with Kai'Sa's raining on her from above, triggering the exact tears Akali knew were inevitable. Evelynn politely gives them some cover for their emotional display with broadened lashers. Their leader commands the maknae, "Never leave us again."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"I don't know why I ever did," Akali weeps in reply.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>The four of them swear to avoid "talking work", in the sense that they would have more than enough gruelling meetings and contract signing to be concerned with in the future. Tonight would be about catching up as a group of friends and lovers, separated for too long with too much to catch up on. Akali has a shitton of stories to tell, anyway, and she's too busy basking in the loving attention that her family showers her with to think of anything else. She hungrily takes in the girls' conversational quirks that she knows and loves, and spots the new ones that have developed - Ahri and Kai'Sa like to <em>hold pinkies</em> now, which Akali finds quite tickling.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>All the while, Evelynn stays close and connected to her. A hand stroking her back as she speaks, switching to a firm thumping motion whenever Akali starts to choke because she talks with her mouth full. Feeding Akali when she let her veggies overcook, too enthralled by her own tales to remember to eat. Skinny lashers flex and curl around Akali's legs under the table and Evelynn only reluctantly lets go when her girlfriend has to go to the bathroom or make another sauce blend. On any other occasion, Akali would have teased her for being so clingy, but with her attention split in a thousand different directions, Eve's closeness is the only thing keeping her head screwed on.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Such excitement, in combination with a full stomach, lulls Akali to sleep on the car ride home. The conversation naturally winds down into pleasant chatter, mostly between the pair seated in the back, with Evelynn focused on charging through the streets at what she thinks is an acceptable speed - just the backdrop Akali needs to knock right out. As much as she's looking forward to going back to the house, seeing what's changed and clinging like hell to whatever's the same, it takes too much of an effort to wake her up upon arrival for Akali to do anything but rest.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Ahri seals this truth with a kiss on Akali's forehead as she recollects her consciousness in the passenger seat. "We're supposed to stay up and gossip, Akali, but you look like a zombie. Go get some rest - we have a good meal to look forward to in the morning."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"No, I can stay up with you guys," Akali unconvincingly protests.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Having taken the responsibility of transferring Akali's luggage into the house, Kai'Sa chimes in to sweetly advise, "It's best to get ahead of jet lag, 'Kal. We'll all still be here when you wake up."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>The dancer's words hit a particular nerve that makes Akali pout. "Promise?"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Another chorus of coos ensues; Evelynn waits for the moment to pass to lean into Akali and assure her that there's nowhere she would rather be.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>The idea of going to bed in a signature K/DA cuddle pile is appealing, but Akali feels inclined to spend some time alone getting settled into her room again. Though their disappointment is palpable, her groupmates bid her their sweet goodnights, adding their final touches to the gallery of lipstick marks on her face. Evelynn, finally, kisses Akali's lips.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>The maknae feels the sentimental strings holding her heart together strain at the sight of her bedroom. Akali remembers the massive cleanup she did before she left, stoned off sativa and babbling something about "clearing the energy" of the space for her eventual return. Kai'Sa even lent her some incense for the occasion. The floor is clear, her desk tidy, her bed made; all that's left is for her to live here again. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>And to find room for the shitton of new clothes she brought. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>There was no way in hell Akali's unpacking tonight, so, she uses her stack of suitcases as a seat and her vantage point for yet another trip down memory lane. A fresh twenty-one with the chance of a lifetime falling into her lap and darting across the country to chase it, leaving a stagnant future at her family's dojo and her torture expert of a mother in her dust - finding a beautiful blend of friends and lovers and family on the other side. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>Leaving that behind to find herself again, in Paris this time, and realizing what it meant to miss home. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>Akali sighs deeply, shrugging out of her jacket and peeling off her other layers until she's left in a cotton bra and boxers. She lets the clothes be the first bits of mess on the floor, a fuck-you to living out of suitcases and temporary rooms with cold, empty beds that are missing the people she needs. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>True Damage is a tight-knit group of Akali's best friends - that much is evident. She seems to just attract the kind of people that gave great hugs and advice, and that would throw a blanket over you when you were too drunk to go out (<em>only </em>after autographing your face). But that particular set of best friends wouldn't want to be her big spoon and hold her throughout the entire night when her thoughts were racing too much for her to rest. At least, not the way that she needed. So, Akali didn't press it. Admittedly, she'd begun to forget how to ask for that kind of thing. Curling up with her phone on the pillow and listening to old voice notes from the K/DA group chat was her go-to, even if it made her pretty sad - in fact, that kind of sadness made it easier to sleep.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Akali regards her untouched, neatly made bedspread with a blank stare. It looks lifeless. It is.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>A knock on the door alerts Akali to a visitor, and the door opening without her assent tells her the visitor is Evelynn before Akali actually sees her. She's taken the twenty-ish minutes since the rapper left to get into a tiny pair of shorts and a double extra large t-shirt of Akali's - black with a faded print of Spike Spiegel in the center. The bow in her hair is gone and her heels are off; Evelynn looks kind of unassuming, which is nice, considering she's invited herself in unannounced.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"You just can't leave me alone, huh?" Akali accuses with a wry smile. She allows Evelynn to ruffle her hair and doesn't mind when she opts to take it out of the ponytail altogether.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"I tried, but I could taste your depression all the way down the hall. I'm here to complain to the chef." Evelynn offers Akali a small smile that melts into a mildly upset expression, bordering on frustration - Evelynn's default when she was getting ready to express genuine concern for a loved one. She huffs, "You're at home now, Akali. You aren't going to get away with sulking on your own when you have all this love around you."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Akali's shoulders slump. Evelynn's hypocrisy aside, her naming of the feeling brings Akali some relief and shakes the floodgates that she thought were closed for the night. "I'm not <em>sulking</em>, just... thinking."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Come to my room. That way, you can at least do your thinking with your head in my lap."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"I don't want to have sex," Akali immediately replies, and she outwardly winces at the knee-jerk reaction. Now flooded with worry about her girlfriend feeling rejected, Akali sputters, "I-I mean... I just- I don't--"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Evelynn rolls her eyes and interrupts, "Neither do I, dummy. Maybe you<em> should</em> get laid and you'd stop being so mopey, but I don't think that's what you need right now. What I <em>do </em>know is that you'll be wide awake if you try to sleep alone."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Akali's eyes drop to the floor. She feels like an idiot for trying to hide from Evelynn when she has a better read on Akali than Akali does on herself. It seldom matters that Eve isn't clued into the specifics of what's plaguing her, because she worms her way into the emotion itself until Akali is forced to crack it open and make room for both of them there. Usually, by the time that happens, Akali's let it turn over in her mind so much that it's really only Evelynn that can ease her back out of the pattern. This presents a problem for her in the turning-over that her mind has done about Evelynn herself. It's easier when Akali doesn't know what Evelynn will find when she dives into her pain; all that waits at the bottom of this particular well is an unrecognizable portrait of the two of them that she would rather let gather dust.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Soft, cold hands tuck under Akali's jaw and lift her chin to meet her lover's neutral, but insistent expression. Evelynn asks, "We don't have to talk about it, whatever it is. Just let me hold it."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Akali takes a deep breath. She puts those thoughts to bed, again.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Only if you give me a ride." Akali gestures to Evelynn's lashers, at rest behind her back.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Evelynn rolls those too-soft eyes. "The city of love has made you soft."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>The succubus obliges, fashioning something of a hammock to cradle Akali in for the voyage. Akali maintains that this is Cloud Nine.</p>
</div><hr/><p>The love that Akali makes to Evelynn the following morning is slow, almost meditative.</p><p>It starts almost instantly when Akali wakes up to the sight and smell of her, stark alabaster against black sheets. The dip from her broad hips down to her slim waist is as prominent as ever, especially under the thin covers. Akali uses the first bits of strength she regains out of the sleep to reach out and run a hand there to make sure it's real. Once she makes this kind of contact, the true weight of her deprivation that had been muted by first-day-back jitters surges to the forefront of her mind. The need is almost overwhelming, then, as if Evelynn is even conscious enough to work her magic. Even then, Evelynn is a fairly light sleeper; Akali's third or so trip stroking her up her side and down her hip wakes her up with a gentle smile. Without so much as a good morning, Akali is on top of her, melting her body into Evelynn's with reverence for the beauty finally in her palms, on her lips, in her mouth.</p>
<p></p><div>
  <p>There are moments where Akali notices Evelynn stopping herself from taking over. Random, purposeful grasps on Akali's torso make her tense with the familiar warning that she's about to be flipped over, but that moment never comes. Akali's holding back with her, willing softness into her touch. It's abundantly clear that both of them pictured something different for their first time back together - something rough and playful with much worshipping and just as much shit-talking. She wonders if Evelynn can read that she needs this, to pour her first whispers of consciousness that morning into feeling Eve and making her feel in return.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>The extent of said feeling is revealed when Evelynn takes her turn with Akali. The want in her eyes creates a golden storm that shakes Akali to her core, stripping her more bare than she had already slept that night. Each drag of her teeth across Akali's ribs, every moment she spends trading their tastes with her tongue sends the human back to her first brushes with this immersive kind of loving. The lightest of touches threatens to break Akali with their knowing perfection - that ever-present knowledge of exactly what her lover needs. Though she reciprocates Akali's gesture of gentleness in her expert way, there is more than just her body involved; Evelynn works away at the knots in Akali's mind, making apparent her intentions to clear it. Akali blissfully, wholeheartedly accepts. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>More than anything, Akali is looking to welcome herself home in Evelynn. She wants to find the pieces of some of their first memories together in the grooves of her vessel and remind herself of their roots, what makes them tick together. Those origins have felt so far away from her, too far. There have been too many imitations of this closeness that have passed through Akali's hands in their time apart that being in this bed feels like a massive dose of some antidote Akali had been dying for.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"This is all wrong," Evelynn says with a dreamy smile as she catches her breath. "I am supposed to get dressed up and seduce you... show you my new toys... but I haven't even brushed my teeth yet."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Akali rolls her eyes and lets her head rest against Eve's thigh, lightheaded and heart coming down from its racing. "We have... all the time in the world for that stuff. I'm home now. Not goin' anywhere you're not goin', too."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"That had better be a promise."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>There, gazing up at Evelynn at some of her most vulnerable, Akali promises her the world, and her own along with it.</p>
</div>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>the song linked in this chapter is Alina Baraz' Lavender and Velvet, featured on my <a href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2Tu5VMWUoe8WbfhMv57Ck9?si=2TpYs3woQRiYQiiik8p7wQ">Akalynn playlist</a>.</p><p>if you happen to be familiar with the layout of Incheon International Airport, please don't page me, the maps on the website were very confusing.</p><p>i've been sitting on this idea for months and i'm ready to dive in. expect some point of view changes as the story progresses and, like, sooo much more angst and smut. we're just setting the tone babes - we got way more to go.</p><p>follow me on twitter @moiratheestalli for a peek at more BLADEisms my brain churns out every day</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. fuck a fantasy</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Akali and Evelynn catch up.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>this one felt very good to write and twice as good to finally put out, especially because this is rebel ways' first smut installment and my second overall. it uh. got away from me in many ways. but i'm hoping y'all will appreciate that <em>and</em> the dive into the dynamic. also, there isn't any actual recreational drug use in this chapter, but it is mentioned. </p><p>you can find me on twitter @ skr8uplzbn (new handle hayyy). thank you deeply!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"Look. They're pretty and all, but can't you just ditch the crystal thing and keep your tails like this all the time? 'Cause I think this is <em>beautiful</em>."</p>
<p></p><div>
  <p>The maknae practically does snow angels in the bed of her gumiho's tails. She feels <em>that </em>joyful here, full on home-cooked dishes and easy conversation. Easy as it was, Akali feels uniquely energized by the morning buzz she'd come to know, love and so sorely miss. Mornings hadn't felt so complete without her vigorous chopstick battles over the last scraps of a dish with Ahri, and intervention from any select third party that emerges victorious while the other two are distracted. Ramped up in her affections by the early morning's intimacy, Evelynn clung close in the exorbitant ways that she only ever does at home. Her close hugs made it a touch harder to eat freely, but with Evelynn also feeding her, Akali hardly needed hands at all. The opposite couple feigned their disgust in less than convincing ways; Akali thinks they're a little too happy for her to mean it this time around.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>With said buzz coming to a comfortable close, Akali finds herself laying in a pool of her loved ones all smushed together in the den. All four of them twisted up on the sofa and spilling onto the ground, Akali's loving ladies fuss over her in all their unique capacities. Ahri's hands reaching into her hair from behind her, Kai'Sa's long and lean body curled up on the rug with her head on Akali's lap, and Evelynn's on her shoulder. Sometimes, they hold hands or trade other touches in varying combinations, in kisses on crowns and pinches of cheeks. The four of them have mastered the art of the cuddle pile over the years in their little puzzle of wonder.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"My overall hair maintenance is already hellish, Akali. Plus, I can't perform with these things, or I'd suffocate." Ahri seems to switch trains of thought with a pensive hum. "Speaking of which, your roots are getting too long... what do you think of black hair--"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Old school, okay," muses Akali.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"-- with blonde highlights? Somewhere between diamond and sunflower. Maybe just under here..."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Akali doesn't have many thoughts on anything besides the way Ahri's claws rake at the base of her skull. The sensation sends her eyelids lulling, and they pick up into a flutter when Evelynn joins in - the way it always just <em>seems </em>to happen when they're all together. Instinctively, Akali's hand snakes along the curve of Eve's side to rest there, an innocuous palm on her hip. It crosses her mind to nudge Kai'Sa to get in on the hair action, but the dancer seems content to gaze on with warm, violet eyes.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Blunt nails toy curiously with the side of her head. Evelynn offers, "A couple of streaks on the sides would really pop..."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"You want me to look like a scene kid?" Akali peers at Evelynn through the corner of her eye. "You must have some big plans. Should I be worried?"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Only if you're worried about standing out. Though, I don't think you are, <em>giant.</em>" Evelynn teases. She withdraws her hands from Akali's hair just to flip her own and say, "I'm going for a striking lavender, myself. With victory rolls, for our victorious homecoming."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Vintage, yet modern. I like your approach, Evelynn," croons Kai'Sa with great appreciation for the siren's proposal.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Similarly, Ahri purrs her praise with a couple of fingers teasing some strands of loose hair that sits atop the crown of Evelynn's head. "We're about to have a pastel princess on our hands."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Evelynn shines amidst all the attention, cupping Kai'Sa's jaw with an adoring hand and maneuvering her neck to plant a kiss to Ahri's palm, but Akali isn't on the wave as of yet. She prods, "Victory rolls...?"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"You've seen them before, Akali - I texted you a picture, remember?" Evelynn makes letter 'C's with her hands and places them on top of her head. "These ones."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"So, like space buns? Ha." Akali jerks the leg that Kai'Sa's resting on to joke, "You're just gonna let her steal your look like that, Bokkie?"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"They are not <em>space buns.</em>" Evelynn's voice grinds in irritation.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>In stark contrast to the dull tone of the diva, Kai'Sa chimes in. She pinches her thumb and forefinger together and makes a pulling motion from her other, open palm. "It's <em>like </em>a space bun, but if you made it a little pointier and floofier. More elegant, I would say. I think they're going to look wonderful on you, 'Ev."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Evelynn tells Kai'Sa that she's "going to kiss her," like a loving threat.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Akali rolls her eyes at the ass-kisser on her knee. With a smirk, she guesses, "So, kind of like you'll have little horns on your head. Because you're gonna give 'em hell, right, babe?"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"And a bag of chips, baby," Evelynn purrs in her naturally raunchy way.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Ahri has her business tone going when she reminds the trio surrounding her of their duties. "On that note, we really don't have too much downtime before we have to hunker down and get to work on this EP. Now, I haven't made our hair appointments yet, <em>only </em>because I need to set up a few consultations before the promo shoot. Evelynn and I have some fabric swatches together, so we also need to think of makeup, especially to cover up your tattoos..."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Akali nods dutifully and wishes she was listening as attentively. The reality of diving back into work so soon is a major turn-off and it takes a great deal of concentration not to roll her eyes as the laundry list grows and grows.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Eventually, her eyes wander over to Eve who, predictably, feels similarly about the responsibilities ahead of them. There's a bored look in her eyes that lightens up with amusement when Akali pretends to nod off, smirking impishly. Akali watches Eve make an open-and-shut flapping motion with her hand in time with Ahri's speech; Akali slaps the hand away before she can start laughing at her girlfriend's mean joke. She spares a glance at Kai'Sa, curious about whether or not she caught it, but the lovesick fool has a hundred and one percent of her attention on Ahri. Always on the same page, Evelynn puts her hands under her chin and bats her eyelashes in a perfect impression of the dancer. Akali snickers out loud at that one and Eve puts a finger over her lips, mouthing, <em>"Ahri's talking."</em></p>
</div><div>
  <p>Outside of the to-dos, the important takeaways are that Ahri is scoping out a space for the promo shoot and striking some negotiations. This morning is the only time slot she could snag with the owner, because it's always better to go right to the source with these things, and it shouldn't take her "more than an hour" to blow some kisses over coffee and snag a contract.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"And we have to get dancing right away. We are going twice as hard this time around, so I need you all at your best." Kai'Sa perks up from her perch on Akali's knee and points with great intention at each of her group mates. Ahri first, then Evelynn, landing on Akali last with an added message: "Especially <em>you</em>, Akali. You are our star - eyes will be on you, and you are going to give them your A-game."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Akali knows that Kai'Sa means to motivate her by talking that way, but it makes her more nervous than anything. The extent of the dancing she'd done in the recent past was onstage bullshitting with True Damage and some of the POP/STARS choreography as a party gimmick. She's sure Kai'Sa will be supportive, but that won't come before the militant teacher experience. "Can't wait," she offers in a shaky voice.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Good. I've been blocking some combos with the instrumental, but there is gonna be much more to come once we get in <em>both </em>studios. I'm gonna spend some time finalizing what I've got to run by you all while Ahri's out and I've got breakfast to burn."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Akali wishes they would all just have some mercy on her. Yes, she loves having a packed schedule, because it means new heights and something to do. What's crucial is the schedule having a chance to be <em>empty</em> first. She bemoans the continued loss of freedom aloud and is met with the motivational, sarcastic answers that she doesn't want. Even crueller is the way that her two, more motivated counterparts peel away from their positions around her and Evelynn.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>The dancer offers, "Since you two aren't busy, maybe you can knock out those dishes."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>And, because the pair knows they won't hear the end of it, they begrudingly embark on such a journey.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Not so begrudingly accepted is another excuse to spend time with each other. Another simple kind of pleasure off which Akali thrives is the particularly uncanny occurrence of doing mundane tasks alongside a full time demon and Jill-of-all-trades celebrity, rolled into one. Cheeky (literally) slaps with dish towels and equally mischievous flicks of water mitigate the bleakness of the task and get the job done surprisingly efficiently. Ahri flits through the dining area to bid her quick goodbyes and tells Akali, pointedly, not to move in the meantime - "I haven't seen enough of your face around here yet."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Akali's chest is filled to burst with anticipation before the telltale <em>click </em>of the front door breaks the seal. Until that point, Evelynn sat quietly at the kitchen island, nursing one of her crazy-sweet coffees. Now, her intense gaze is palpable, like a pair of knives - or lashers - pressing into Akali's face and carving patterns along her body. Most notable is the shift in energy from the early morning's events. This serendipity of having the house to themselves and the thrill of somehow getting caught anyway takes her back to their early days together, the memories like medicine to her.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Naturally, it follows that Akali has some new ideas. Feeling flirty, she plucks a clean glass from the drainer and gives it an honest wipe with a dish towel, à la roleplay bartender. "Do you come here often? I think I'd recognize a pretty face like yours here on a Friday night."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Seamlessly, Evelynn gives a convincing sigh. She even holds her glass mug by the rim and gives it a little swirl as if it's another one of her drinks of choice. Her eyes are downcast in thought when Akali comes to lean against the island to listen intently. "It was a slow night at my usual place. Not enough hot bartenders, you know?"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Ah... hate it when that happens." The glass complains in squeaks at Akali's overly generous drying. She stills her hands and leaves that part of the act alone for now. Instead, the Casanova gives her own form a sweeping gesture with both of her hands and asks the pretty patron, "Satisfied with the staff?"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Evelynn taps her chin, grabs the hem of Akali's t-shirt to unveil her abs, drops it with a firm nod. She smiles mischievously. "Very satisfied."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Right away, Akali's mapping out where and how to fuck Eve. The kitchen could work, because having her bent over the counter is the perfect angle for Akali to reach her G-spot - the couch is boring, but the two of them have gotten pretty creative with the space in the past - up against the front door would be hot and potentially very embarrassing should either of their groupmates return. All the while, she licks her lips, open in her lust as she takes in the beautiful figure sitting beside her.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Akali's eyes catch Evelynn's thighs as she crosses one leg over the other. Casually breaking character, Evelynn raises her mug to her lips and quizzes, "Still hungry, darling?"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"No way. Actually, I would say I have energy to burn before my internal clock starts whooping my ass." Confident, Akali leans forward to stroke one of Evelynn's thighs.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>The combination of impossibly smooth skin and plush muscle tempts Akali's hands into firm squeezes. "We could always wear me back out... y'know, if <em>you're </em>not tired from this morning."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>The next up-and-down that Evelynn gives Akali is a touch more scrutinous. As if she's talking to herself, Eve comments in a low voice, "Tired from twenty minutes of head? You have to be kidding."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Then, let me make up for it. Right here, right now." Akali sets both her hands on Evelynn's knees, making to pry them apart and using them like a stand as she slinks closer. Teasing, among many other forms of restraint, is not one of Akali's strong suits, but something about that tone of Evelynn's makes her want to flip that twenty minutes into an hour, or whenever it is her jaw falls off.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"I can do you one better," Evelynn quickly returns, "and take you home with me."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>It takes Akali longer than it should to register that Evelynn is referring to her loft outside the city. She hasn't been a guest there in months, and it also took her months of being involved with Eve before she was invited in the first place.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Gingerly, Evelynn dusts off Akali's shoulders with delicate fingertips and adds, "I've redecorated."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Ahri'll be back in less than an hour, babe. Let's just make this a quickie, yeah?"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>There's little give in Evelynn's cool demeanor when Akali starts to kiss and suck on her neck. Similarly, her thighs stay tightly locked together despite Akali's most encouraging of pries. To illustrate her disinterest in such an advance, Evelynn leans an elbow onto the kitchen island in cool repose.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Don't you remember when I said I'm going to seduce you? I've done so much shopping, I can hardly decide what I want to wear for you."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Akali groans in her ear at the blurred image of Evelynn in something tight and lacy. Still, she takes those killer hips into her palms and tries, "You're seducin' me right now, just sitting there."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Oh, please. I can do <em>much </em>more damage than this. Why are you fighting me so much, darling?"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Akali screws up her lips, sighs. She waves a hand around to signal that she's thinking. "It's just... I just got home, Eve. I'm not even a little unpacked, I've barely spent any time with the guys--"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Evelynn interrupts in a bored sort of drone. "<em>The guys, the guys, the guys... </em>it's always about 'the guys' with you. I know you like to be fair, but... I have to wonder when it will be <em>Akali's </em>turn."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Now, it's Evelynn's turn to make a pass. Plush lips get acquainted with the dip just under her lover's left ear. Chancing a quick nip at Akali's earlobe, Evelynn curls her fingertips over strong shoulders and encourages in a softer purr, "I want you to be selfish for a change. What do <em>you </em>want, Akali? What do you <em>need</em>?"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"To be with you." The admission leaves Akali without her permission, but once it's out, she can't take it back. The exchange prickles at the very sense of fairness that her lover condemns and it bubbles up behind her lips in hopes it will find another way to explain itself away.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Evelynn takes on a beeseeching tone and lets her lips move sweetly against Akali's when she answers, "I need you even more, honey. Let me welcome you home, properly. I can have you back in a couple of hours. Set a timer. Just come home to <em>me</em>."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Akali bites her bottom lip to avoid losing herself in Evelynn's. It is true that she isn't wholly satisfied with the idea of a quickie, besides the fact that it's a bit of fun they haven't had in a while and something to take the edge off. Truly, though, if it's about taking the edge off, then Evelynn knows how to do just that on the deepest possible level. Any way that Akali dreamed of being taken care of, spoken to, fucked, <em>loved </em>comes to Evelynn naturally. The pangs of longing in Akali's chest are in the exact shape of the hole of deprivation carved by the time away.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"No more than three hours," Akali squares against her stubborn heart. Part of her worries about being <em>that </em>kind of person, leaving her friends in the dust to hide away with whoever it is she's fucking at the moment. "And you have to make it worth my while."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Then again, another part of her knows that these are the same people who had been privy to all of her fretting about when next she <em>would </em>get to see Eve, when it was as hard for Akali to pin down where or how she was as it would be for a fan waiting on a crumb of something new.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Here, Evelynn becomes that "something new", on her home turf.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Evelynn is clearly thrilled by the giving-in, because she smiles wide and gives Akali's cheeks this excited little pat, and it's just so plain <em>cute </em>to see her so happy that Akali's a little more okay with the sacrifice. Just before bounding off to get her purse, Akali's giddy lover ensures, "Absolutely, honey. Don't bother bringing anything; I have everything taken care of."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Personally, Akali isn't completely sure what <em>everything </em>is, but trusts her everything to have it covered.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Still, she shoots Kai'Sa a quick text to alert her to the fact that she's being abducted. Even if she doesn't reply, no one can say Akali didn't try. Especially not Ahri.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Evelynn's chauffeuse services are extra efficient and the lone staff member is extra chatty. Akali is tethered to her by their joined hands, but she's surprised she isn't rolled up into one of Eve's lashers like a dead body in a rug. Then again, Akali appreciates Evelynn at least creating the <em>illusion</em> that she can behave herself. Not that she minds too much when Eve doesn't hold back.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Evelynn's voice rings out in the garage as she rounds the Ghost, to the driver's side. She sweetly offers, "You can be DJ, honey, I don't mind."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Why!" Akali gasps and presses a hand flat against her chest. After all these years, she remains genuinely flattered when Evelynn gives her the musical reins on their trips together. It's especially nice when Akali doesn't have to wrestle them out of her hands. "To what do I owe this honour?"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Evelynn rolls her eyes, but regards Akali warmly all the same. "Didn't I tell you? This is <em>your </em>homecoming."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>The triumphant words make Akali bite her bottom lip. With a shake of her head, Akali tells Evelynn, "You make me feel like a king."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>With that established, the pair sets off on sizzling pavement with an equally<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYDiTZ4By4w"> <span class="u">sunny soundtrack</span></a> for the voyage. Morning stretches out to envelop them in searing sun and thick heat, palpable to the senses beyond the Ghost's exquisite climate control. The bustle on the morning streets is a warm reminder that her own little world hasn't stopped turning because she'd grown curious about other pastures. She's grateful to see her go-to hotteok stand successful as ever, and smiles warmly the market of housewares where her girls took her to decorate her room at the house - and where their band's merchandise is now proudly displayed. The thoughts send her head bopping happily along to the tune - Evelynn's fingers keep their own time on the steering wheel, the scene reflected in her shades.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Ahri and I went on a date a couple of months ago."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>The siren's sudden, cool admission makes a warm smile spread across Akali's face. It also makes Akali wonder if Evelynn wanted to wait until they had a little more distance from Ahri to share the news. It's a kind of shy gesture that makes Akali's grin grow. "Yeah?"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Can you believe it? The girl keeps herself so busy. Drives herself <em>so </em>insane. Complains about needing a break and never... <em>fucking</em> takes one. And she had this meeting, tabling some influencer sponsorships for Foxy. She's texting me the whole time to complain. Actually, she was telling <em>me </em>everything she should have been saying out loud, anyway. So, I pull up right at the doors, call her - I said, 'Ahri, we are going straight to Myeongdong, don't you dare bring any money.' Naturally, she didn't listen to the second part, and I had to suffer through more complaints on the way, but I got her back for all of it well enough."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Evelynn tells the story like a complaint and lets out a sigh to match. She brings the frames of her double Cs down the bridge of her nose and glances over at Akali.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>The rapper waits patiently. It would be easy to fill the airspace with similar complaints about Ahri's (in)ability to take care of herself, but the meaningful twinkle in Evelynn's eye while she talks is something Akali wants to leave room for.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>That special form of Akali's attendance prompts the driver to finish her thoughts. Eyes drifting back to the road, Evelynn says, "I've been worried about her. She's been feeling the pressure of this comeback since before we even debuted. It's one thing to do it the first time, but doing it again when <em>you're </em>the one setting the bar is a different game. All the help in the world couldn't save that girl from her own criticism, but, I don't know... maybe a new pair of shoes and an orgasm would help."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Ha. Maybe."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Think it did."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Akali studies the cityscape as it fades into a filter when the pair peels onto the highway. Scenes from Ahri and Evelynn's outing play in her mind - she thinks of the way Evelynn likes to press her thumbs into the worry lines on Ahri's forehead, like she's loosening them up. Those kinds of gestures pre-dated Akali's own existence and have revealed themselves in funny ways over the past two-and-some years that make her feel like she's witnessing something sweet and secret. Another reason why Akali opts to listen rather than talk when Evelynn reveals some of those intricacies is to unearth something new about that centuries-long tenderness she seems to have perfected with Ahri.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>And she can't compete with centuries of supernatural companionship, but it's nice to think about coming close someday.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Hey."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>The first thing Akali's eyes shift to is the hand that curls, comforting, over her left knee. Eve's opposite hand rests easily on the lowest curve of the steering wheel and she keeps her eyes ahead at the traffic. Akali hums her acknowledgement, strokes the back of her girlfriend's hand with her thumb.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"You have a lot of momentum right now. That's good. That's <em>great. </em>We need it. But, there's only so much burnout to go around, and you're the lead contender at this point. Like Kai'Sa said, you need to bring your A-game, but I think you would've gone totally grey if Ahri talked any longer."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Akali thinks back to her own comment about her internal clock. Jet lag, sure, but there was no question about the burnout thing. She had learned to properly estimate just about when she'd snap like a twig from performance anxiety alone, but she thinks the new experience and the refreshment of coming back to her base have dulled that sense in a way that's only going to creep up on her. One method would be to plan for the creeping-up - however, that meant the kind of deeper self-awareness that made her feel sick lately.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Her fingers worm under Evelynn's hand until they're between her own, Eve's palm protecting the back of her hand. "You know my style, babe. My nose stays on the grindstone. Isn't that what makes me the 'secret weapon'?"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"<em>No. </em>Even though I've always loved that about you." 'Kali shines at Evelynn's praise and that little word that slips out now and again. "You're our secret weapon because you're unique. You're good at what you do, Akali. And there is no <em>doing</em> without the <em>you</em>. Today... or, for the next three hours, as per your terms... I'm giving you complete permission to stop using your squirrelly little brain and just relax."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Akali gives her driver a mean side eye for the comment about her brain and snatches her hand away when she sees that Evelynn is grinning already. Her slit brow lifts slightly above the other as she booms, "This 'squirrelly little brain' gave you a hit single and you want me to just turn it off? Good luck with that."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Evelynn's sneaky little test of that is the way her curious fingers poke around at her passenger for the rest of the ride, with the passenger in question conflicted between telling her to focus on the road or to pinch just a <em>little </em>harder.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Fortuitously enough, the cooling system in her girlfriend's home is frigid enough to have her nipples at full attention. Akali's glad she isn't holding anything, because her arms immediately fly up to wrap around each other for protection against the sudden cold. "Jesus. When you said you redecorated, I didn't think you meant you turned your place into a meat locker."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Evelynn maneuvers out of her heels with a wrinkle of disgust coloring her nose. "I hate hot weather, darling. It's not like I'm from Hell."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Akali shrugs her acknowledgement. Evelynn excuses herself, clearly with a mission on her hands, but doesn't leave without a peck on Akali's cheek.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Akali lets her eyes roam about the first level of three in the roomy loft while Evelynn scurries about in the kitchen. Most noticeable are the mismatched smatters of bright, colorful trinkets scattered about the landscape. She remembers herself, Ahri, and Kai'Sa getting on Evelynn's case for her personal quarters being so drab; really, she's proud of Evelynn for keeping the translucent lavender curtains Kai'Sa had surprised/intervened with. Akali supposes that the odd pink paisley throw pillow or pink lava lamp are also her honest attempt at incorporating their suggestions. The hot pink buttoned couch, however, has Evelynn written all over it.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Strolling along the hardwood floor, Akali stumbles upon - or, nearly into - a sunken pit in the living area. It's among the more impressive ones she's seen, considering it looks like the perfect place for a night in. All four sides and the floor of the large square space it takes up are lined in luxurious seating, deep blood red, with a dainty set of stairs to descend into the decadence. She toes the plush rug, peers into her own reflection in the round, reflective side tables that frame a larger one in the dead center. (Looking into them, Ahri <em>was </em>right about her roots.) She tests a couple of the decorative pillows with squeezes of her hands and in her arms and upturns her lips in approval for their softness.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Evelynn, someone dug a hole in your living room." </p>
</div><div>
  <p>"You've noticed my conversation pit!" Evelynn sings from the kitchen. She's set up with a couple of champagne flutes, the champagne in question, and a jug of orange juice. Fixing their mimosas in the process, she monologues, "I had forgotten all about them until I spent some time rearranging my vinyl library when I came across my copy of Rumors and - <em>oh </em>- it took me right back. Back then, I had this gorgeous eggplant carpet and the same dealer as the band. You know, the blow these days is not the same stuff people were making really <em>great </em>music with."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Feeling like quite the detective, Akali produces a heart-shaped silver tray from one of the tables. "Is that what this is for?"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Evelynn taps the tip of her nose to indicate that Akali is, in fact, on the nose.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Promptly, she saunters over to where her lover stands with two full glasses and a broad smile. Akali gladly accepts her share of the libations from her happy hostess, along with the gracious personal speech Eve had clearly prepared for the occasion.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>She boasts just as if into a microphone in front of hundreds, maybe thousands of people. "To Akali Tethi. The most verified, the most frigid, most creative rap artist, not only in, but <em>from </em>Asia, to the world. With qualification, with skill, and, most importantly... with love. Welcome home, darling."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Akali's cheeks burn with the burning hot blush from her lover's lauds and how sweetly and openly Evelynn pours them forward, without the catch of biting criticism or something else to get the blood pumping. Even so, that biting criticism is also the reason why Akali accepts praise as a reflection of her abilities rather than an inflation of them. Or, at least, faking that she knows it has gotten her this far.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>So, Akali raises her own glass with Evelynn's and takes a gulp so big it dribbles down her chin, undignified. She earns a small thump on the back for getting the drink in her carpet. When they take their seats in the pit, Akali steers Evelynn into her lap, and Eve spills <em>hers </em>into the couch, so it's totally even.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Catlike, Evelynn cozies into Akali's lap, an arm around her esteemed guest's shoulders and one of her hips nestled between Akali's thighs. "I have gifts for you, you know."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Gifts? <em>Plural? </em>I'm a kid in a damn candy store!" Akali lets out a victorious little chuckle, but it fades into a lip bite soon after. She twirls the cold glass between her fingers. "I, uh... I got you stuff, too, but I don't think it's gonna be close to whatever you got me--"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>A finger over her lips does the perfect job of shutting ‘Kali up. Evelynn gives her lover an earnest look in the eyes and insists, voice low, "You being here is all the gift I need, my love. Thank you for giving it to me."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>The kiss they share is relatively chaste, but the way Eve's hip grinds into Akali's groin when she leans down to do so is a stark reminder of what she had set out to do back at the house. She suggests it with a roll of her tongue's tip into Evelynn's mouth, happy to feel her accept it so eagerly. Even better, Evelynn grins into the lip lock when Akali finally gets a handful of her rear.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"I can think of another gift I want..."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"In due time, baby." The sumptuous tone the siren deploys makes Akali hum, as if to sing her own response. "Let's get through the goodies first."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Akali's tone is of airy curiosity. "Aren't these the goodies?"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Akali manages to catch a little of Evelynn's dress between her fingers when her host flits away, once again. She gives Evelynn's retreating form a roll of her eyes, and is convinced Eve felt it, because she returns the look over her shoulder from where she stands, poised to mount the winding staircase.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Only you would come home to mimosas and a fancy toast, and yet, still not trust the process. Won't you let me wait on you, Akali?"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Part of Akali laughs internally at the loaded meaning of waiting in this context, but pointedly throws her legs up onto the curved cushions next to her in obedience. She gives Evelynn a formal, two-fingered salute; Evelynn returns it with a sweet set of kisses blown her way.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>In the meantime, Akali will nose around in Evelynn's secluded abode.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>The increase in framed photos of Evelynn's loved one's has been exponential since Akali's last visit. Resting on the dark wood mantel are pictures at landmarks taken by one another or self-timers, photobooth proofs, some outtakes from magazine shoots that Evelynn had passionately argued were better than the ones sent off to print and stubbornly procured. Among these, at the center, is a photo of herself and Evelynn on their first date. Their first <em>real </em>date after months of sneaking into each other's beds, or cars, and after Akali had taken the nauseating leap of asking Evelynn to consider things - to take them, together - more seriously.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"You're in for a hell of a ride, dude," Akali tells her brown-haired self, frozen in a perfect time beside her girl - <em>officially.</em></p>
</div><div>
  <p>A haphazard pile of postcards and letters on hotel notepads or journal pages sit nearby. Nosy as Akali can be, she assumes it would be a better idea to wait for Evelynn's invitation into those files. But there's no harm in picking out the topmost one - a floral selection with gold lettering contrasting Akali's own on the other side, in all caps and squished into the tiny space. She remembers the Parisian gift boutique at which she paid what <em>she felt </em>was too much money for a little card, but concluded that Evelynn would appreciate the gesture. Judging by the wear on the card, she's appreciated it well.</p>
</div><div>
  <p><em>It's not the city of love without the one I love beside me, </em>Akali had written at her desk overlooking the bustling nightlife. <em>And the wine doesn't taste that good either.</em></p>
</div><div>
  <p>The particular placement of such a keepsake tugs at the specific heart strings that sought some kind of confirmation or sign that Evelynn missed her, too. Intellectually, one misses their partner when they're not around, but Evelynn had never been an easy "one" to pin down. It makes her curious to picture Evelynn carefully framing their pictures and re-reading small notes on postcards while the other half of said couple waited by the phone.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>For a second, Akali wonders if she'd been wrong about more than she realizes.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Honey?"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Akali looks behind her to see an empty upper level, but Evelynn's voice rings in a flawless echo. Craning her neck anyway, she responds, "Yeah, babe?"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Will you come here a moment? I need a hand with something."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Akali rolls her eyes at the rather lazy attempt at calling her to the bedroom, but appreciates Evelynn's attention to the timeline they're working with. Maybe some of those gifts Eve brought up were just that heavy - Akali hopes not, because she's been fretting about the size of the stone on the necklace she'd gotten for Evelynn since then.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Downing the rest of her drink and setting its empty vessel aside, Akali verbally confirms that she'll be there before climbing the stairs in a jaunty little way.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>She's surprised, if not nervous, to see that the door barring or permitting access to Evelynn's personal quarters is closed. While she chalks it up to her girlfriend's flair for the dramatic, it still seems appropriate to knock.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Two raps of her knuckles do the trick. "Come in," signals the presence behind it.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Immediately, Akali's eyesight is swallowed in darkness. Thick, dark curtains are drawn to meet each other in the middle of an expanse of floor-to-ceiling windows. It casts the bedroom in convincing dark and fortifies the little light that a number of low lamps and small candles provide. It's only a trick of her eyes adjusting, because the mirage at the center of it all is clear as day to her.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>There, on the California king, Evelynn waits.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>The first thing Akali notices are the midnight stockings that swallow milky legs, consuming them from a couple notches above the knee down to her feet. They sit ungartered, providing little obstruction to what's between them. Covering her slim torso is a skimpy black number, lace that dives from her shoulders deep between her breasts. The hem sits high on her hips, a tempting suggestion in the space left behind. Also sitting on her hip is a gloved forearm, dainty and poised.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Outside of the change in apparel, Evelynn's visage is made up and framed by twin, curled plumes of white hair on either side of  her crown that culminate in pointed tips. Victory rolls. Her chiseled features have a splash of colour in her deep red lips and flirtatious, dusky tones on her eyes.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>The first thing out of Akali's mouth: "I am underdressed."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Eve plays the fumble no mind. Her glowing lips catch the light <em>just </em>so as they move slowly. "Akali, I hope you'll accept my apologies. I know I've done much better for much less momentous occasions. Normally, I would pull out all the stops, but you've already had a five-star meal and, well... we have something of a time crunch on our hands."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>The siren gazes at her stunned guest through long lashes and uncurls her carefully posed form, coming to her, arms outstretched in friendly invitation. Flecks of gold intertwined with the gloves sparkle with the motion. Akali's own hands reach, too, entranced.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Akali swallows hard when Evelynn leads her to the bed, stepping backward with graceful footfalls. Generously, she lets Akali admire her there. Up close and personal, one detail Akali notes with delicate fingertips are the lace hearts in the garment, each one with <em>Love</em> looped inside in cursive letters. She follows the patterns, writes them onto Evelynn's skin.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"You are..." Akali breathes. "Baby, you're perfection."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Evelynn tilts her head, the gold hearts dangling from her ears swaying in the motion. "We only have so long, darling. Let's make the most of it."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>The siren instructs her guest to lay on the bed. In true succubus fashion, Evelynn helps herself to a seat by straddling Akali's waist, gingerly accepting the hand her lover offers to guide her. Her hums of happiness are like wind chimes in the wake of her settling, and her hands generously roaming across the object of her affections. Similarly, Akali takes hold of the bare space between the end of her garment and the beginning of her stockings, needing that soft skin under her palms. She kneads into the soft flesh of her lover's hips and thighs, up and down her arms. <em>Everything </em>in front of her is tempting - Akali is torn between preserving the beautiful presentation and ripping all that lace to shreds.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Akali finds a third option in a giggle when Evelynn "walks" two gloved fingers up her stomach and treats the rapper to a tap on the nose. She returns the gesture with a quick, double-handed squeeze on Eve's rear, all skin with that tiny string between her cheeks. Evelynn's cartoonish gasp coupled with a hand placed coyly in front of her lips sets off a roll of Akali eyes. They laugh again, together.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Someone's giddy." The tease is coupled with Akali threading both sets of fingers between her girl's with a merry little push and pull of their hands.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Evelynn shrugs once, a graceful movement of her slender shoulders. Pronounced collarbones and pert tits rise and fall in their black lace frame when she dreamily sighs, "I am so happy you decided to come, darling. This just makes so much sense, you in my bed."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>This time, Evelynn takes Akali's palms against her own chest - landing on her breasts, suggesting her heart. The siren emphasizes, "I mean it."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"I believe you, mama," croons her happy guest.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Evelynn fans the tips of her fingers in pensive patterns along Akali's chest. Her eyes follow said drawings - she seems to be laying out a map. "And I meant it when I said I needed a hand... do you know what I want from you, Akali?"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"What's that, Evelynn?" Akali entertains the thought that Evelynn is planning an incision to get to her heart. Said thought sends a pulse of heat into her core that causes her hips to grind into her lover's, subconsciously.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"I want some of that celebrity dick. You know, the kind you've been going around and so generously giving to <em>everybody but me.</em>"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Evelynn's motions stop and her eyes snap up to meet Akali's, dangerously sharp. Akali peers right back at her girlfriend's face with sharp-ish eyes of her own, folds her arms across her chest, and sarcastically returns, "My bad. Had I known you were saving yourself for me, I would have worn a chastity belt."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Evelynn makes a face with her lips twisted up, doesn't acknowledge the response, and resumes her fond petting anyway. "I ought to punish you for giving this away. I should fucking <em>flog </em>you." </p>
</div><div>
  <p>A good flogging... Akali is well overdue. "Is that a threat or a promise?"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Evelynn straightens her back, her setup to pin her object to the pillow by a hand around the throat. She jerks Akali's neck in her gloved grip - the rogue grits her teeth against the instinct to struggle.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"You think this is a game, don't you? Know what I wanna do to you?" Evelynn snarls. She uses the halfway lethal hold to press Akali's head into the pillow. "I want to string you up and iron brand my name on your ass like cattle. Like a slab of meat<em>. </em>And I want to drag you on a leash, parade you naked all over downtown - and you'd love it, like the cocky little whore you are - then you'll present yourself to me and my cane for your crimes. I've had a thousand wet dreams about keeping you locked in my dungeon and telling the world you're <em>dead</em>."</p>
</div><div>
  <p><em>But you won't. </em>The feisty thought comes by force of habit, bickering as their fuel. Because Evelynn is more bark than she thinks and teasing it out of her makes the bite even sweeter. But with the look in Eve's eyes, lost in the fantasy she's building, that might not be necessary. Evelynn's next exhale leaves her body as a growl. It seals the threat; Akali's terrified of the promise.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>But Eve eases up with a centering breath and cool hands slipping down her lover's chest, onto her stomach. She decides, "We have more than enough time for all of that. I'm here to make this worth <em>your</em> while, after all."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Gingerly, Eve plucks Akali's hands from their nervous, flat-palmed place on either side of her body and puts them to better use, settled square on her ass. Next, she easily leans forward and starts to kiss the very spots she had a hostile grip on just moments prior. Her slender body presses against Akali's like a perfect puzzle piece. A soothed, confused moan falls from Akali's lips in the whiplash.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Because this isn't about me at all. You have been working so hard, Akali. Everything you've accomplished in just a few short years... honey, you're damn near a mogul."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Evelynn's lips have this funny effect on Akali where her sentences turn into grunted out words the more they land on her. She manages a small laugh. "Mogul? Flatterin' me."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Well, <em>one </em>of us has to talk your shit for you. So <em>sick </em>of you not realizing how amazing you are." Nuzzling her face against Akali's shoulder, Evelynn tugs at the collar of her girlfriend's top to admire her collarbones with strokes of her fingers. "You're amazing, darling. You were hand-selected after years of grinding, and those reins are in your hands now. Don't you know what that means?"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Lazy, commanding, Evelynn turns her head and bares her teeth against the tanned canvas before her. Hooking gently over her lover's trapezius, the fangs drag a path down to the collarbone below it and catch playfully onto her shirt. Akali groans openly. If Akali didn't already know her mind was slipping, it shows in the way she tilts her head back, begging for more exposure, more praise, more affection. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>So, the honeyed words drip, against her ears and into her brain. "All the accolades, the press, the money... everything you want, and more - it's all in your hands. You've worked damn hard for it, too hard to keep refusing it. Take it all, Akali.<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAYAzmehOoQ"><span class="u"> This is your moment.</span></a>"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>And so she does, in the form of pulling Evelynn close to kiss her hard.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>No kind of lipstick tastes good. Not even the scented and flavoured kind. Akali had learned that many times over her life and is reminded of that now. But it acts like a kind of flavoring against the salt of Evelynn's mouth when Akali runs her tongue inside, and feeling it smear along both of their faces is a mutual kind of claiming that excites her.  Her hands close protectively around Evelynn's jaw, the base of her skull, keeping the kiss deep as Akali needs and as Eve has advised her to take. Instantly, Evelynn braces herself, palms holding her shoulders. Akali moves hastily between claiming Evelynn's mouth and coaxing Evelynn into her own, their lips as simple buffers for teeth and tongues.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Let me have you." Akali curls her hips into Eve once, and again with her hands replaced on the fuller ones above her. With another kiss, she bites her bottom lip rephrases, "I'm taking <em>you</em>."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>In a tone just as saccharine as her worship, Evelynn denies her. "Not so fast, my sweet."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Evelynn relaxes onto Akali's hips again, just enough for her lashers to turn Akali's well-loved shirt into a mess of scraps, strewn with abandon on the sheets around them. Right away, her nipples pebble around their steel bar adornments and under Evelynn's gaze. There's little time between when Evelynn purrs her approval and when she shows it by stooping low to press her tongue flat against Akali's navel and drag it up, up, up to her neck. Evelynn lifts her hips off Akali's in the process - her joggers receive an equal lasher treatment. Even though she's untouched by the blades, Akali can feel the phantom patterns of their quick work on her skin.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Ooh, drama."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Akali can't help the little comment. Eve chuckles at it anyway. That's the extent of Evelynn's verbal reply, for the rest is in her body language.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>She spends a short while at Akali's neck, nipping and sucking until the tremors begin, before moving down to grace her breasts with a similar set of strokes with her hot mouth. The tip of her tongue and her lips work together to draw out the moans Akali had been waiting to let break. The more she plays, the more intensely Akali's nipples stand and pray for the continued attention and the more her voice dissolves into wanting pants. Eve's teeth push and pull at the piercings; Akali wonders if she's gonna do that thing where she unscrews the balls on the ends with her tongue. The ghosting of Evelynn's gloved hands along her sides gives Akali another wave of goosebumps, blooming from the base of her neck and spreading like liquid heat everywhere else.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Evelynn notes, "So sensitive..."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Quick repositioning finds Evelynn between Akali's legs now. Her hands dip lower, gentle when they find the waistband of Akali's boxer briefs. Slitted white pupils take their time scanning the body before them on their way to meet brown ones, pupils blown.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Even though Evelynn doesn't say a word, Akali nods her head in deliberate surrender. There's a warm smile behind Evelynn's eyes when she nods back, slight and firm.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>She watches the way Evelynn undresses her with a special kind of reverence and care. The curve of Evelynn's knuckles press gently into Akali's curls, then her hip bones and onward, exploring her layers everywhere she can in the process of revealing her, fully. It's a far cry from girls of the past jamming their hands wherever they could find a hole in the fabric. Nowhere close to the particular way Evelynn savours her.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>The pad of a gloved index finger presses Akali's clit far back into its hood. Evelynn's touch is almost clinical in its precision; Akali gasps and all the blood rushes <em>there </em>in the single breath. The pressure becomes hydraulic against her nerves, against her body when the finger meets bone, and she's digging her heels into the sheets to brace herself against the spread of heat into her thighs--</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Then it's gone, completely. Her eyes search Evelynn's blank expression as she curiously dangles the finger about and then, instead, burrows her middle finger inside, down to the knuckle.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Akali's moan quickly dissipates into a panting breath against the fine mesh and the way her pussy swallows the digit up anyway. Dark eyes watch Evelynn's hand in anticipation for the pounding to start, but not even the singular finger moves beyond its intial entrance.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Do you want me, Akali?"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"I want you." A gentle crook of Eve's finger - the resulting gasp. "Yes, I want you."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Will you prove it to me?"</p>
</div><div>
  <p><em>Work for it, </em>is what Akali understands. She makes to dig the soles of her feet into the bed on either side of Evelynn, ready to throw her hips against the hand laying in wait inside of her. Just as quickly, Evelynn plants her opposite palm against Akali's stomach to stop her. To her point, she withdraws her finger from inside Akali. Evelynn mutes the resulting whine by placing it in her open mouth, flat against her tongue. Instinctively, Akali closes her lips; this pleases her lover. She takes to suckling gently and listens to Evelynn hum and sigh.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Akali's trying to show that she's open and willing to let Eve have control, so she's also biting back her smile at how pleased her girlfriend is with the smallest gesture.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>After some silence in which she seems to have pondered her terms, Evelynn lays out her desires. Removing her hand from Akali's mouth, she takes to brushing her knuckles against her guest's cheek, eyes soft. "Whoever else you've been with hasn't taken good enough care of you. I can tell. You are so <em>sensitive</em>. They don't know what makes you tick. I mean, it's no one's fault, but... they just don't know you like I do, Akali. So, you lay there and let me love you, darling - the way you deserve."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Akali feels small under Evelynn's imposing gaze and touch, but in a welcome way. Sleeping around has illuminated much for Akali in the exact way that Evelynn points out. Sure, she'd been satisfied or at least amused, but never fulfilled. Girls had used her as a guinea pig for their awkward first times going down on someone else, as a human vibrator, as a photo op for bragging rights. Now, it reminds her why it was so useless to look for Evelynn's touch anywhere else.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"And you can prove to me that you deserve it..."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Evelynn takes Akali's face into her hand - gently, under the chin at first, then her thumb and finger take it in a firm grasp that widens Akali's eyes. The press of leather slinking in twin, tight coils around her calves and up her thighs begins slowly, like boa constrictors staking their claim. Gradually, the lashers take to binding Akali's wrists flush against her flexed hips in tight wrapping. Though free, her hands lay useless at her sides, her wrists locked too closely to rotate. The surrounding tension spreads her labia, keeping her on display for Evelynn.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"... by handing over what belongs to me."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Akali is suddenly aware of the thundering in her chest.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Something stormy rolls behind Evelynn's eyes and in her creased brow. "Any of those girls you were with... did they make you cry, Akali? Did they make you scream?"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Akali isn't sure she hears the question properly before she vigorously shakes her head <em>no.</em></p>
</div><div>
  <p>Evelynn presses further, this question more important. "Did you let anyone hurt you - whip or paddle you? Even a bit of skin off your back?"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"No. No one, never." Akali's stomach turns at the thought of anyone but Evelynn handle her so callously. Even the few hickeys she'd come away with felt like scarlet letters, unlike the ones her lover sealed onto her, which she brandished with pride. Trusting some stranger with the task of breaking her would just be self-betrayal when Evelynn has already mastered the art. She meekly meets the pair of golden irises looking down at her.  "They're not you."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Good little pet."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>There's a glint in Evelynn's eyes when she praises Akali and she shows her gratitude with another ghosting of her fingers along her lover's nude body. Her lips join in on the fun soon after, continuing the praise in the form of kisses, bites, suction on anything the siren can find. Evelynn enters an almost stupid little trance, chanting, "Mine, mine, mine," against Akali's skin in a slow, erratic pattern. Frankly, Evelynn is at her scariest like this, when she loses herself in the motion of playing with her possessions.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Akali <em>wishes </em>she would play more. Evelynn's hands find skillfull ways around her cunt and press mesh patterns into the slivers of skin exposed between thin binds. Every time, Akali openly keens for a closer touch. It doesn't matter if it's with her gloves on, or her mouth, or, fuck, Eve could just <em>breathe </em>on her and she'd scream. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>A toothy grin blooms on the demoness's face at the eager display. Lastly, she makes her command clear: "Let Evelynn take over."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>The pleasure begins when Akali welcomes the surrender, the slinking embrace of lashers and their capable commander.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>A breath of relief comes when the dual-handed massage begins below Akali's waist. Worked up as Akali already is, Evelynn seeks to deepen the sensation with skilled palms and fingers exploring the jewel between her lover's thighs. The mesh covering them gives into every stroke of a thumb carrying her existing wetness all along her cunt, every press against her front with the heel of a hand. Akali opens her body further within the lashers that welcome each movement with controlled give, allowing her hips to beckon into Evelynn's treatment.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Her right hand comes to meet Akali's left where it sits helpless under her spread thigh. Sticky glove and all, they lock fingers in slow time with a digit on the opposite hand slipping back inside of her.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Do you feel me, Akali?" Evelynn's head falls back, eyes closed. Akali's eyes follow the canvas of her jaw down to her navel - her hard nipples behind "LOVE"-stitched lace. "How you were <em>made </em>for me?"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>To her point, Akali's hips twitch of their own accord. Mimicking the quick motion, Evelynn starts with curving strokes of her middle finger. They both moan at the coordinating curl of Akali's spine; Evelynn joining her in the appreciation fills her heart to burst with <em>this </em>kind of connection. The simple joy her lover feels in touching her is overwhelming, unfamiliar, somehow. It's a need that she tries desperately to show in the eye contact she makes with Evelynn while she fucks her, perfectly.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Instantly, Akali knows she's on track for the best orgasm she's has in weeks, months, years - since the last time Evelynn had her. Eve's hand leaves Akali's to roam across her body with the mission of mapping out old and new hotspots, tugging at her hair and scratching across her ribs. Her needy noises are ones she hasn't heard herself make in ages. Even then, they're muffled by Evelynn's lips manipulating her own, each one warranted by the cruel crooks of Evelynn's skilled fingers against her most sensitive spots. There are two now, working her walls looser and wetter - torturous still are the whisper brief touches against her pleasure center, occurring only by chance.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Remembering her tongue, Akali says with a tight throat, "Touch my clit, Eve."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>The demon darkens her brow in frigid reception. With her voice even over the human's panting, she reminds Akali, "<em>You </em>were made for <em>me. </em>What don't you understand?"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Evelynn couples the surge in the speed of her thrusts with her fingers between Akali's teeth, pressing into her jaw. Akali gasps around the digits at the prickling wave of pleasure that skitters among her nerves. If it's even possible, she lets her legs fall wider apart, eager. Short-lived because Evelynn withdraws from her again and she feels painfully hollow. God, she could <em>sob.</em></p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Take off my gloves, use your teeth," Eve instructs with dutiful cooperation from her subject. Just as soon as she pulls her hands back to free herself of the garments, she's shoving the sagging material into Akali's waiting mouth.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>She laughs when Akali gags. Looking down her nose at the figure bucking feebly against her hand, Evelynn pitifully asks, "Not enough practice on your gag reflex, kitten? We'll have to work on that."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Akali moans again, not because she <em>can't </em>reply, but because she wants Eve's fingers back down her throat, the same way they were pumping between her thighs. She wants her own salt that sits saturated in the mesh to mix with Eve's on her tongue. It speaks to her own greed and need - her deprivation - to want Evelynn <em>so </em>inside of her and it makes her blush bright from her chest up with shame.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Evelynn wets her lips around the grin she wears. She notices, pounces.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>In a snarl close to Akali's ear. "Lay down and take what I give you, Akali. You do not get to ask for what's mine."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>And those same fingers plunge into the same walls they've claimed, ungloved and personal in their dwelling.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Even more ashamed by the sounds coming from Eve moving inside of her and the cries they elicit, Akali makes to turn her face away or to draw her thighs back together. Sucking hard against the gag, Akali swallows her own arousal and smells it all around her, hears it reflected in Evelynn's harmony of moans with each thrust - it sends her grunting at the blowing up of her senses. All her efforts to hold on are futile against the physical and intangible forms of bondage Evelynn holds her in. The utter exposure and the way Evelynn stares with such close examination send extra shots of heat into her face and neck on top of the flush, the lightheadedness from gasping for air so desperately. The most relief Akali finds is in screwing her eyes shut - just her and the pleasure, riding each other out.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Until, of course, Evelynn beckons back to her with firm commands in a loving call.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Don't hide from me," she'll ask, and Akali obeys with the haziest of looks that her lover regards with great pride.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"<em>Eve</em>," Akali stresses around the cloth, and because the desperation is written everywhere else, it spills out of her mouth in so many more words. Eyes closed, she raises her voice, "T-Touch my clit, touch my--"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>A tight slap on her cheek almost makes her scream in surprise, in arousal as it stings. The growl that follows is a minor warning before Akali is taken up into new bondage. In skilled tandem, Evelynn presses her subject up against the headboard, knees tucked to either side of her chest by doubly looping lashers secured at the posters. The brief rush of blood back into her hands is short-lived with Evelynn pinning her wrists above her head in a singular clawed grip, unpolished and unforgiving against the wall. Glinting blades positioned at the ready by her neck keep her further frozen.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>This leaves Akali nose-to-nose with and being stared down by her conqueror - an appropriate term for the way Evelynn renders her powerless in so many ways.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Wide eyes meet those of an angered lioness empowered by her prey's feeble whines of loss with the mass inside her gone, and of fear when the hand covered in slick seizes her face. Spit lands with the stress on Evelynn's words when she snarls, and with great intention into Akali's panting mouth.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"You don't fucking give me orders, whore. I fuck you however I fucking want and you <em>take that shit.</em>"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Akali can't help the way her eyes roll at the vulgarity, and Evelynn wastes no time spitting further insult when, for what Akali prays is the last time, re-enters her. This time, the lashers rock Akali back and forth against the harsh thrusts Evelynn's fingers meet her with, keeping her suspended in submission.  The new angle makes Akali feel insane and makes her want to call Evelynn insane, but she can barely call Eve's name itself amid her <em>can't-take-it</em> moans and the gag between her lips. That intoxicating venom tugs hard at her resolve - the orgasm is hot on her heels. Even hotter tears prick behind her eyes and Evelynn wringing the skin of her wrists makes them fall.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Evelynn forces Akali's face forward with a blade to the jaw, shy of a nick in an incredible display of control. That wicked grin she wears twists her words into sadistic joy when she goads, "That's it - cry, Akali - cry for me!"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>The command wrings out Akali's sobs and, <em>fuck fuck fuck, </em>she's not ready to cum this hard anymore. This kind of pleasure is going to tear her apart and she swears then, there, every fucking time that no one's ever gonna touch her again when Evelynn tears apart months and months of hiding and spills it onto the sheets, into both of their overflowing cups. No other cocktail of restriction and surrender is so perfect for her, so perfect she sobs with want.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>To be devoured by Evelynn is earth-shaking; to be devoured by Evelynn after she's been starved is earth-shattering.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Sudden, hard pressure on her clitoris, the same from when Evelynn first undressed her. Finger, lasher, Akali can't describe anything beyond the button press battering the floodgates to her little death by Evelynn's touch. That touch is relatively still - inside is a different story, pumping hard and unrelenting amid Akali's vicious tremors.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Evelynn's mouth hangs agape in awe and lust. Oh-so gingerly, she removes the soaked mass of mesh from inside her lover's own - the moans ring out in full. Fangs are borne behind loosely moving lips when she purrs into Akali's ear, the sparked match to her gasoline pool when she asks for her lover.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>
    <em>Give it all to me, Akali.</em>
  </p>
</div><div>
  <p>Headfirst into the wildfire, Akali coils everywhere, hard against the clutching of her own walls and the close embrace. Wailing high and helpless, she melts wholly into the pulsing pressure contorting her face and frame. She seeks to ground herself anywhere and only finds Evelynn but - God - it's only Evelynn - thank God it's only ever her Evelynn. Gracious, beautiful Evelynn carrying her burning close to a mind-resetting orgasm with her hugging lashers and hypnotic voice, with her love.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"BabyI'msoclose," Akali hurriedly shudders. She gives Evelynn the most honest, pleading-est look she can despite every other function of hers revolving around the pleasure and wails again when Eve gives her one back. "M'<em>coming-- </em>Eve--!"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Her numb tongue stutters short of anything further and her hips pick up the slack with all the same urgency, bucking ruthlessly with approval. Eyes curled up somewhere between their lids and the ceiling, Akali's body hangs in its own suspension when the live wires in Evelynn's fingers connect to the ones deep inside her.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Akali meets her unmaker.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Every wave of completion Akali weathers among wild thrashes of her body, Evelynn rewards with more of the same deep strokes that drown her in pleasure. Akali pours it all back with her free mouth, calling out to her lover as if she's so, so far away. As far away as Akali herself has been.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Where Akali expects an unceremonious tumbling back onto the sheets, Evelynn gives her the opposite. Quiet sobs melt away with the binds, of flesh or otherwise. With her lashers cradling Akali's trembling form and the support arms around the human's frame, Evelynn equally sees her lover through her come down the way she did on the way up.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Thank you," whispers the woman with slow strokes of her hands in sweat-stamped hair, with lips on the head underneath it. "Akali, lover, thank you."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"<em>Fuck</em>, I love you," Akali gasps with glassy eyes. Though unbound, she's still so open, laying by her lover's lap and stained in her own desire. "Love you."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Frustrated fists wipe her cheeks and Akali sits up to curl her body into Evelynn's. Searching, confused lips find Eve's still ones. There, in the kiss, Akali becomes intensely aware of how only half of her needs have been met. She's looked for this feeling everywhere she thought she could find it, but there aren't women like Evelynn anywhere. Just imitations that get easily found out when Akali's low effort strokes send them reeling and they miss all kinds of marks on how to turn her on. Proving she could go without the original only proves that she <em>can't.</em></p>
</div><div>
  <p>Now, with her own fears made love to, she knows that Evelynn needs the same.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>And so the desperation surges above the looming exhaustion in Akali's hands full of any inch she can reach on her perfect woman. She seeks to right the imbalance of her own disheveled nakedness against Evelynn's perfection, save for a tastefully erotic smear of her lipstick. Akali tugs at the bobby pins and snaps the elastic and claws bitten nails across flawless skin with clumsy hands and frenzied motion. The finesse with which Akali planned to service her gives sudden way to the animal she's kept restrained in the name of being casual.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Eve notices, and keeps noticing when she grips Akali's shoulders to weather the hard kisses and fumbles within the greedy grasping of her suitor. The hard kisses seal her lips when she tries to say Akali's name and reunite with them, or some other skin, when she pulls backward. Always, Akali adapts to her slinky siren's maneuvers with her own, desire at the forefront of her mind.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"'Kali," breathes her lover with liberated lips, only so that Akali's may treat her along her throat. "'Kali, slow down."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"I can't-- don't want to," responds the rogue with hard breath rolling between both of their chests.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>She <em>does </em>slow down, to a reluctant halt where they're suspended in silence with the exception of their puffing breath. Turning her face against the crook of Evelynn's neck and it fitting so perfectly there - maybe as perfectly as Evelynn says she fits in her home - gives her a surging reminder of her sore <em>need</em>, sends her arms winding around her woman's body, clutching her shoulder and side. Maybe it's because her emotional and physical reserves are maxed out from the generous orgasm, but Akali nearly weeps again when Evelynn melts into her without any resistance and it feels like she <em>knows</em>. Knows intimately just how deeply unwound she's made Akali and left her heart too raw, too open to scale back.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fijdDFFJGuA"><span class="u">I need you</span></a>. I need to feel you, and you're here - let me feel you, Eve."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Evelynn, ever tender, cradles Akali's head in her palms and sings in a smirking call, "Won't you make more love to me? Slow, like earlier?"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Akali's words grind out from behind clenched teeth. "I wanna <em>fuck you</em>."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>She takes Evelynn in a symmetrical grip, pulling her body close with each set of fingers tucked in the seamless places where her human skin ends and lashers begin. In perfect sync with the grasp, cold steel meets the insides of Akali's knees, an innocuous placement illustrating her surprise.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Catching Evelynn off guard, her lashers as her tell, gives Akali a kind of power she had put out of her mind because she was trapped in them moments ago. She burrows her head away from Eve's hold, heaves into her ear, "I get to fuck you, too."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Akali takes the risky liberty of forming her hands into fists around the snake-like appendages, snug at their base where Evelynn's back muscles meet them. Still tense, now searching, the lashers flex inside the rogue's palms - quickly, she corrals them back into submission with a firm yank before they can catch her forearms. The incidental graze of a blade against her skin leaves no mark, but the curl of Evelynn's spine speaks to the growing, changing passion claiming more of Akali by the second.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Hungry. Greedy. "Y'told me to take it. Hand it over."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>With another tug on her lashers, Evelynn dives to lick hungrily into Akali's unprepared mouth; the receiver braces herself with hands tangled, instead, in the teddy's twin straps criss-crossing just above the now free lashers. The way Evelynn's tongue beats Akali's back into her own mouth makes her wish she kept her hold on them.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Ask nice." Evelynn tells her, sharp.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Replicating their earlier action elsewhere, Akali's fists tighten into white hair and she rises to her knees. Evelynn gazes up at her with something smug in her expression that makes Akali's jaw clench. "Shouldn't have to ask when it's <em>mine, </em>Eve."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Says who? Akali, who said any of this is yours?"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Evelynn makes to slide the thick straps on her shoulders down with a stare into narrowed eyes. Tampering with Akali's goods. Immediately, Akali seizes the garment by either side of its deep V to stop her.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Always so quick, Evelynn's hands grab onto her wrists. A grin flashes onto Eve's lips and slides away when she repeats, "Who said? Did you tell all those girls you fucked about us? Was it them?"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"I would never do that and you know it." The random accusation of that kind of betrayal burns hot under Akali's skin. Forcing the comment to roll down and off her back, Akali concentrates on what's real instead of the obvious bait Eve presents to her - she slides her hands under the fabric and meets full breasts, squeezes hard.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>A roll of Evelynn's eyes and a sidelong glance. "Said you would never leave me, either."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Frustration mounts and sends Akali's hands onto Evelynn's shoulders when she intently, near desperately says, "I did not leave you - why do you keep fucking saying that--"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Evelynn shoves her palms against Akali's chest, one hard <em>thump. </em>Akali manages to capture one wrist out of two; the other stays at her chest anyway, next door to Akali's rising heartbeat. "You weren't around. Around the world, but never around me. What do you call that?"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"I was in Vegas when you were at Sundance with your <em>new man, </em>less than a two-hour flight--"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Aw, were you going to marry me?"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Outside herself, Akali takes Evelynn down to the mattress by the shoulders and pins the both of them there with her knees framing Eve's waist. Her glowing hair fans along the sheets under them and steals Akali's breath for only a beat. Only a beat, because she <em>swears </em>that grin of Eve's came out of nowhere, but her increasing agitation certainly did not. Those two are symbiotic.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>A last effort to reel in what Evelynn has brought out, Akali presses, "What is this? What are you doing?"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Waiting for you." Evelynn's lip curls and she rakes her nails down from Akali's hips, down her thighs, to her knees. "Ravish me, bitch."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Why are you acting crazy right now?" Akali talks loud, moves her face closer.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Lashers splayed at rest beside her, Evelynn's words are her loaded weapons. "Isn't this what you want? You like your girls <em>loco.</em>"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>The implication is persistently venomous in Eve's mouth. Akali's immunity to such a weapon has morphed into an emotion that makes her groan and run her hands down her face. She sinks back onto her haunches, onto Eve's thighs. "Can't be damn serious..."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Did you think of me when it happened?"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Nothing <em>fucking </em>happened!" Akali's eruption comes with her hands batting the air between her and Evelynn, a twitch of her body. They curl and clutch at nothing, one representation of the <em>last </em>of the last efforts to keep it together. "Keep talking that shit and I'm leaving, Eve. I mean it."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Always closing the distance, Eve props herself up onto her hands, elbows flexed. With only half the volume increase in her voice as Akali's and none of the shaking hands or grit teeth, she asks, "Is it that you just happen to attract mean girls, or do you look for them on purpose? I can be a <em>big bitch</em> if it'll turn you on."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Goosebumps triggered by the dent in her already vulnerable state imprint along Akali's arms. "Stop."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Evelynn's brow quirks. The motion nearly imperceptible were it not for how intently Akali's eyes look for some sign of cognizance or mercy in the diva's face. "What, or you'll cry again?"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Shut your fucking mouth." One hand finds Evelynn's jaw - swatted away almost immediately with a quick slap from a lasher. Akali opts to point in Eve's face instead. "I'm warning you--"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Like she's giving Akali a tip, Evelynn says lowly, "Don't 'warn me' like I'm some damn kid. Don't talk about it - <em>do something.</em>"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Immediately, Akali remembers her lover's earlier thoughts on giving orders and the slap she'd earned for doing the same. Thinks about how easily she would roll over and take Evelynn's orders anyway feels sick about it now, the way Eve still gives them out so freely. "Fuck you."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Fuck you, too, Akali - fuck you for running from me until I had to kidnap you to get you alone, and fuck you for never thinking of me."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Both of Akali's hands clasp Evelynn's face with no resistance this time. Both pairs of eyes are wide while they search each other. Her brow creased into something insistent, Akali hisses, "You're acting crazy, but you <em>are </em>crazy if you think I don't think of you."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Something so promising happens behind Evelynn's eyes and it runs away before Akali can place it as a proper emotion. She can't chase it now - she needs nice words and kind hands for that, but those had maxed out in the morning. This time, Akali doesn't wait for that or whatever words are waiting behind her girlfriend's parted lips. She takes the invitation all the same by sinking her teeth into the woman's plush bottom lip and sucking it, tighter until Evelynn groans in complaint. The next kiss Akali gives her is already hard, but Evelynn's mouth hanging loose and open and <em>waiting </em>pushes her to draw her lover in uncomfortably close. She grunts loudly against their clashing teeth, revving up over Evelynn's gasps.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>For real, now, Akali tears the victory rolls loose and starts for those earrings, too, but Evelynn moves away. Akali not only follows her, but takes her down flat against the mattress for what she'll guarantee is the last time.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"You're a liar."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Shut up." Akali moves herself between Evelynn's legs and hikes them up to her own waist. Her body curls until her teeth can drag bright red patterns into the smooth expanse of exposed skin.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"You don't - mmh - give a fuck about me, 'Kali."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Focused, tugging tension sees the teddy's lace split in two. The sound of intricate work torn apart - of another layer Evelynn uses to keep herself hidden - provides only mere satisfaction for Akali. She tosses the fabric to flail uselessly around Evelynn's bare torso, held together loosely thin cords behind it. One side should do, Akali decides, and she takes the remaining strings down off one of Evelynn's legs and leaves the rest to dangle at her opposite hip.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Evelynn, stop talking." Akali scans the body before her as it writhes in excited anticipation. She's slick and shiny between her thighs and her chest rises and falls hypnotically. "Stop fucking talking."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Greedy touch greets the newly exposed skin to the sucking and biting that keeps Eve gasping on anything else cruel and untrue she has to say. Agitated and feeling acutely like she's on borrowed time, Akali presses her fingers deep against Eve's sex and slides them along its length. They work her, quick and square on her clit until those stocking-covered legs rise up around her, trembling.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"This is mine." Akali's fingers sink into the sugar bank. "And you're not keeping it from me."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Suddenly, Evelynn's voice goes tender, almost quiet. With pleading that doesn't reach the rest of her face, but burns bright in her eyes, she asks, "Don't let me."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>And though she wasn't willing to wait for one, Akali accepts the invitation.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Restraining Evelynn crosses her mind, but is ultimately unnecessary. She stays dutifully open and not at all still, curling herself with Akali's fingers. All the same, Akali goes back to that hold on Eve's hair by the nape of her neck - the last thing Evelynn will get to do on her watch is <em>look away. </em>The comparatively gentle touch of Evelynn's hands on Akali's forearms keeps her steady, too. Carried away by her demoness's obedience, Akali plays, prodding and stroking in perfect velvet to see her lover squirm and complain when she pulls out or slows down.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"<em>My </em>pussy," she grunts out whenever Eve seems to need the reminder.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>The reminders don't stop Evelynn from poking at her. Akali watches her wet her lips and part them to tell her, "Prove it."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>A tug at her hair ends her sentence in a gasp and rolls beautifully down her curved spine.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Unwilling to bow, wanting to stay big, Akali lifts her lover's hips up and off the bed to meet her face. With her arms wrapped securely around the cinched waist that hosts those broad hips, Akali curls her mouth against Evelynn's cunt to begin her messy feast. She leaves it up to Eve to figure out how she'll balance with just her shoulders on the mattress - it's fun to see her struggle, her hands swiping uselessly for Akali from so far away. Her lashers pick up the slack and lock around her waist like a seatbelt to hold them together. They hug her the same way Evelynn's thighs do, pulsing squeezes to show she approves.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Anywhere Akali can reach, however, she rakes with scratches. Scratches that claim, leaving behind runs torn straight down the stockings and not deep enough red welts along Eve's ass. Pinches that strangle pretty moans on their way out. It's a far cry from where Akali was moments ago, fucked out and weeping, but that's not how she wants Evelynn to see her now. Because she's not among the leagues of people who beg and cry for loving, like those victims of Evelynn's that she mocks in their last moments. Akali is a chooser - <em>she's </em>the perpetrator behind this, in control of the controller.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Soon after, Akali's own moans underscore Evelynn's pretty, gasping ones. She feels herself getting sloppier the more her lover's perfect form glides against her tongue and in her hands. Her own hips feel tight and she <em>really </em>needs to rub one out later because there's no way she's giving Evelynn that kind of power again.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Akali." Evelynn chokes on the name. "I need you..."</p>
</div><div>
  <p><em>Fuck. </em>Akali's stomach curls against the admission and the desperation inside it. It makes her knees weak, too.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Maintaining her cover, Akali releases Evelynn and is outwardly pleased that the siren keeps her legs and lashers put anyway. Smirking, licking her lips, Akali massages those pillowy thighs, sneaking her fingertips underneath the bands of her stockings. "What do you need?"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Eve's glare is artless - the look of a woman in need. "Why are you stopping?"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"I asked you what you need. <em>Who</em>."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Don't play dumb."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Before Eve can fire back, or before Akali can keep running her own mouth, she flings Evelynn's limbs back off her shoulders. Still, it's too tempting not to say <em>something </em>when Evelynn's lashers not only keep their hold, but pull her in <em>just </em>so. "You've been playing dumb all day."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>So, Akali decides to do what she needs, instead. Manipulating the form below her to her needs, she locks herself in to press her still-wet pussy against Evelynn's. She uses Evelynn's leg to keep balance in front of her and - <em>Ah--</em></p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Do you know what you're doing?" Evelynn pants, then rolls her hips to test whether or not that's the case. Judging by the flutter of her eyelids, Akali would say yes.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>The contact empties Akali's word reserves. Instead, she lets Eve be her toy, slipping this way and that in the process of finding a rhythm and the blissful moment when she finds the tight one. She waits, works, to keep her face neutral until Eve's isn't; the moment her eyes close, Akali lets hers roll, surrendering to the pleasure on her terms.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Akali's grip is divided between her lover's thigh and the heavy headboard. Her fingers being the unfortunate buffer between it and the wall is the last thing on her mind as she grinds, deep and quick, against Eve's sex. The sight of Evelynn pinned underneath her, feeling her intimately enough to know just why her eyes are screwed shut and her jaw hangs open, triggers something carnal in Akali.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"You're mine," Akali grunts out. She catches as much breath as the exertion will allow to repeat, "You're all mine."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>A beautiful hybrid of a smug chuckle and a moan breaks from Evelynn's throat in reply. What's so funny, Akali can't tell. All the hell she's been given about forgetting that she "belongs" to Evelynn, but the reverse is laughable, somehow. It sparks memories of their earlier bickering and, in turn, renews the mission of reminding Evelynn just who she is. Grace is thrown out the window; Akali spells out her every intention of taking back what's <em>hers </em>with her hips, her eye contact - a grip around Evelynn's throat and pinning her knee as far back at it will go. The torn teddy slips down; Akali promptly tosses it away.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Both hands and eyes on her siren, Akali grunts, "Say it."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Glowing eyes search Akali's face and body, hunger radiating in their gaze to signal the presence of a predator beneath her. Evelynn's unforgiving grasp seizes the wrist of the hand at her neck, only to hold it in place and encourage her lover's insistent rocking. But she can never stay wholly receptive for long; Evelynn's free hand nestles into the small of Akali's back, rocking her manually despite the belt of lashers, to guide her impossibly deeper into the soaked expanse of their inner thighs. The cry that Akali lets out in response is pathetic in comparison to Evelynn's pleased gasp, but her resolve burns strong. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>Akali feels tremendously sadistic, the way her palms search so ravenously for the break in Evelynn's voice, but she has her reasons. She can't hear the words in Eve's trained tone of smut, she won't. The same way that Evelynn beats and bleeds the confessions out of her prey, Akali uses her skill, smothering her catches in her personal heat with submission the only way for them to get a breath of fresh air.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>In that way, they aren't so different.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>But Akali feels the coil in her gut tightening with Evelynn's location unreadable except that she feels <em>good, </em>twisted up and keening there, on the pillows. She fights to reclaim the rhythm of her hips from the one set by Evelynn's hand - <em>Akali </em>is fucking <em>Evelynn</em>, not the other way around - and presses harder against both points of contact. Once those creepy eyes of hers roll back into her head, Akali dives in and stakes her claim with her words.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"This body belongs to me, baby, you're all for me," she marvels with hungry reverence for the writhing figure underneath her. Her fingers crawl up from Evelynn's neck and glide between her lips, palm cupping her chin.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>That stunt costs her a bit of blood, because Eve never wastes time biting back to defend her territory <em>and </em>claim Akali's. She sinks her fangs a healthy amount into Akali's flesh and uses her lips and tongue to keep her from escaping right away. Wrestling her hand free is a task that Eve is happy to take Akali up on and once she manages it, Akali snarls, "What the fuck?"</p>
</div><div>
  <p><em>"Make </em>me yours," Evelynn wishes in an eager breath. Eyes bright and clear with the promise of pleasure, she cries, "Make me feel it...!"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>And so Akali rocks faster, wrenches her girl wider open, and fights like hell against the second orgasm that's hot on her heels. All her senses are alight, flashing bright green "go" signs in the forms of indulgent gushing and Evelynn's beckoning moans.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Emboldened, Akali blindly curls a fist into Eve's stocking for momentum. She groans at the pillowing of her thigh around the tension and pulls tighter, greedy for more, until the fishnets burst into threaded diamonds and circles along Evelynn's trembling leg. The pressure pushes more blood out of Akali's wounded knuckles, more adrenaline with it.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Akali's work gets sloppy the more lightning strikes the nerve endings all along her thighs, surging up into her torso. What little friction that existed is long gone and Akali fights to keep her precision against the wanton rhythm her hips create to chase the orgasm anywhere and everywhere. To chase Eve's moans as they carry up high into the air, beckoning Akali to run headfirst into the source of the song.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>In it, Akali finds the source of her own roaring flame when Evelynn breaks.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"I'm yours, Akali!" Evelynn decrees with a labored breath. "All <em>yours!</em>"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"<em>Yes!  </em>Yes, fuck--"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>The shocks of her sudden peak hit Akali twice as hard and send her doubling over, forcing her to brace herself fully against Evelynn's leg. Torn mesh from the stocking irritating her skin, Akali rocks hard against the brief hold before she's sent into absolute overload to bring Eve closer to her own orgasm. With the ceiling on her own limit broken, Evelynn pours back into Akali everything she's put into her command; gunning through every way to refer to Akali that she has banked - <em>'Kali,</em> <em>darling, honey, lover, oh-baby-oh-baby </em>- she repeats the admission, over and over.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Akali struggles not to howl over the sound, as each syllable unlocks some other bout of pleasure that sends her spine curling erratically. All that matters, all that's ever mattered is underneath and inside of and all around her, begging her to <em>fuck me, 'Kali! </em>with everything she has. That everything is running out quick with the stark numbness rolling in close behind the debilitating overwhelm.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>As always, Akali adapts. "Sit on my face."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Eve implores with a tremor running up her wanting body and beckoning hips, "Baby--"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"<em>Sit on my face.</em>" Akali takes the lead in untangling herself from their tightly wound heaven and making to lay on her back, somewhere skewed on a mattress huge enough that it doesn't matter where they end up. Before then, she takes to hauling Evelynn closer to her own sprawled out form, coaxing her into the position. The whines of loss ringing out from her lover chip away at Akali's conscious and send her mouth running further, prodding, "Do it, come here, come to me--"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Abruptly, her mouth is sealed with the very fruit she asks for. Evelynn becomes so malleable with the promise of that carnal, decadently human kind of pleasure, much more than she ever admits until you get her there. Her need engulfs the both of them; her legs are too weak to give Akali breathing room and Akali is hell bent on getting her even weaker. She would lose her damn life for it - she hasn't even caught her own breath before giving whatever else is left to Evelynn's cunt.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Akali moans deeply against the intoxicating blend of scents and textures they've created together. Within seconds, her face is burrowed deep between Evelynn's thighs, her neck, tongue and jaw straining to recreate the motion that had Eve trembling to the best of their ability. The restraint applied by Evelynn's fists in her hair, tight against her scalp, presents its own challenge that Akali fully intends to conquer.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Meanwhile, her own hands look for their escaping life in alternating grips and scratches down Evelynn's back and waist, the plush ass grinding into her chin. This reminds her that she was deprived of the chance to grab for Eve the first time around, being caught up in supernatural bondage, and so she makes a point of grabbing greedily at that beautiful mass pinning her to the bed.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Akali, please, <em>please</em>," heaves the siren in sobbing encouragement. "All yours, baby--"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Akali gasps for Evelynn, and for any morsel of air, just as desperately. Skating by on the air bubbles she sneaks in the split seconds of separation from Eve's cunt, Akali sees her woman through to her orgasm. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>With all the talk of owning Evelynn, Akali treats her lover's body as with the rest of her prized possessions - with great care.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Her eyes surge up into their sockets to watch Evelynn ride out her nut, all insistent bucking and grinding against Akali's skull. The full-bodied cries speak to Akali deep down and fill her with the satisfying knowledge that <em>yes yes yes </em>it's <em>so good</em>. To make the elusive siren convulse, with no hands especially, is a moment that blows her mind every time. </p>
</div><div>
  <p>Also mind-blowing is Akali getting full access to oxygen again once she tosses Evelynn clear off her body, knowing by the sound of it that she's landed just fine - meaning, not on the floor. Akali lets out an ugly groan that her lungs need and deserve, clears her hair and whatever-else off her face. It'll take her forever to catch her breath and probably half a minute before she passes out.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>From somewhere behind her, Evelynn nudges her hard and complains, "I loved these stockings, you bastard."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Evelynn dutifully tends to Akali's wounds soon after their session ends. Checks for potential or realized bruising around her wrists, an easy all-clear since Evelynn has much more of a sense of her lashers than any rope or satin. Admires the hickeys she left behind and clucks her tongue as if to imply they're a surprise. All that's really important is cleaning up the punctures on Akali's fingers.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Though she never minds a bit of blood, the rogue lets it happen. Most of the time, this little ritual is to make Evelynn feel better about hurting Akali. She emphasizes things like "aftercare" and "sub drop" to explain it away, and treats this process with just as much care as the torture. As Akali watches her wind slim bandages around the teeth marks, she thinks about their funny symbolism, the earlier argument. The pair of them had spent more than enough time slapping Band-Aids on one another's insecurities in the forms of gifts and sex, but those three have run out now. The eerie silence hanging between them shows that.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>So, Akali tries her words again. "Hey, Eve. I know you meant you don't want to be possessive, or... clingy, or whatever--"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Hate that word. <em>Clingy.</em>"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Akali raises her eyebrows at Evelynn. Evelynn cedes with a wave of her hand before replacing it under Akali's palm.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Listen. I <em>love </em>that you respect my freedom so much. Really, it means a lot. And I need my space and all, but, I don't need space from <em>you</em>. Like... that was <em>way </em>too much space from you, 'Ev." Akali emphasizes her point by pressing her bandaged fingers into the spaces between Evelynn's. She bites the inside of her lip, feeling especially naked now. "I mean, yeah. You have your things, and I have my things, but... I'm here, you know? Ten toes down. I'm not going anywhere."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Evelynn props an elbow onto the vanity and rests her cheek in its palm. She eyes her lover with a probing, thoughtful gaze. She sighs, "In case you haven't noticed, I'm an 'all or nothing' kind of woman. You can imagine what the alternative might look like, but I figured that would turn you off."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Would it be a turn off to know you care? I doubt it."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>The answer cuts through the air at a pace and tone too sharp for Akali's own liking. She dodges her girlfriend's eyes, but Evelynn has already found an excuse to withdraw in reassembling her first aid kit. She mutters something that ends in the word "stupid," which draws Akali's gaze right back in Evelynn's direction.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"I'm sorry, I don't think I caught that."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"I said, don't be stupid, Akali. It isn't like I'm invisible."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Akali upturns her lips in bitter surprise at the statement. "So, now I'm <em>stupid </em>for wanting you around more."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Well, if that's how you want to take it..."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Evelynn lets a shrug of her shoulders complete the sentence. Akali bristles at the dismissive tone, but collects herself some to by folding her arms at her ribs and looking at the ceiling. "You <em>act </em>like you're invisible. Then, when I treat you like you're invisible, you get mad. It's impossible to know how to act."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Akali feels childish when she starts to rub at her chest, but the candid observation comes from much rumination and puts a dent in the "deal with it later" armor around her heart. She thought she had rode out the rest of the bitter jabs she had tucked away while they fucked, but they had been tossed out of the safety net of sex and all that's left is two individuals, together. Even as Akali's eyes follow Evelynn's busybodying, her girlfriend doesn't acknowledge her presence the same way. Coincidentally, she emulates the very accusation from moments before.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Suddenly, Evelynn repositions her whole body to face Akali with a stern look in her eyes that immediately draws the younger woman's full attention. Calculated and purposeful, Evelynn answers her.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Being a leader requires focus. Being in any kind of limelight does, yes, but you cannot afford to mess around, even when you're as ambitious as you are. You can't be an effective leader and have your name attached to-- to..." Evelynn takes a deep breath with a furrowed brow as if frustrated by her own pause. Her next attempt follows momentarily. "I break your focus, Akali. You don't want to admit it, but it's true. We can get away with it here, with our family, but not out there. You have too much going for you..."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Akali feels impatient. "Too much going for me...?"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Evelynn shakes her head and places both of her hands on Akali's knee, earnestly. "Look, darling. You're made of all the amazing stuff it takes to succeed in this world - there's proof of that. It only means that we <em>both </em>have to work hard to make sure you can."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>The more Evelynn talks, the deeper the crease between Akali's brows. She hates the way Eve talks circles around her honesty and the feelings they <em>clearly </em>drum up in her - it makes her head hurt and leaves her with more questions than answers most times. She wants to know why Eve is so scared to be close, why she thinks that closeness is a distraction, how it's better to cheer from the sidelines than at her side.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"I don't get it," she plainly tells Evelynn. "You're not some... <em>distraction </em>to me. You're way more than that, you're..."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>But there, with Evelynn leaning on her and un-prettied from lovemaking, Akali seems to lose her words. The gears are turning again, thinking about that broken focus Evelynn speaks of. She remembers playing hooky to go on joyrides and studio sessions wasted on performing for each other - all the guilt from shirking her responsibilities. A hollow sort of guilt where Akali doesn't regret any of it and now wishes she said "yes" to more of her and Evelynn, together.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>There, smelling Evelynn's perfume and feeling her touch, Akali decides against ruining another "yes."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Well, whatever. Just know I love you."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Evelynn's eyes turn into beautifully decorated dinner plates before they avoid Akali entirely, looking comically at the ceiling and around the room. Akali bursts out laughing at the display.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"How?" Akali huffs incredulously. "How has it been almost three years and you <em>still</em> look like that when I tell you I love you?"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Evelynn stands from the seat and swings at Akali with the first aid kit. On the swing back, she clutches it to her chest and clears her throat. "I <em>know that. </em>You just... tend to throw me off guard."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Leaning forward, Akali stops her lover from leaving by drawing her in at the waist. She cocks an eyebrow at the nervous little smile Eve wears and teases, "Would you even say I break <em>your </em>focus?"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>The magic switch flip that turns Evelynn's smile into a smirk settles the knot in Akali's stomach that craved normalcy. She lets the kit tumble back onto the vanity and plants an accusing finger square against Akali's sternum. "I should be asking <em>you </em>that question, because we are at about the three-hour mark."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Ah." The knot twists right back up at the breakneck speed with which Akali is presented with the same decision as, well, three hours ago. "Lesbian sex can be so pesky that way."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Evelynn responds with a deeply attentive, mocking nod. "It's true."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"And, I mean..." Akali gestures widely to the array of torn fabrics strewn across the bed. "I don't have any clothes."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"You have more than enough here... but, why give the house <em>more </em>laundry? You already have what all is in your suitcases."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"<em>Very </em>true." Akali mulls over another reason. Not a reason to stay, but to justify the choice she's already made to stay. "Maybe Ahri and Kai'Sa are fucking. Don't wanna interrupt."</p>
</div><div><p>Evelynn snorts at that one, and the pair devolves into much-needed snickers. Akali forgets what they were laughing at when she sees her girlfriend's real life, candid smile. What fool could possibly pass up on such a sight?</p>
<hr/></div><div>
  <p>Having broken the seal on where the two of them stand, the couple has more room to catch up on their signature kinds of play. Their banter is less cutting, their touches more giving. They make a game out of christening every inch of the conversation pit, stairs included. Breezy conversation takes place around snazzy new pieces of decor and other egregious purchases of theirs. Despite their earlier enthusiasm levels, they talk music and exchange grand ideas to be refined later.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>("I wanna do bike stunts in the video." "Remember the last time we tried the 'speeding car' thing?' 'Ah, but we haven't tried a speeding <em>motorcycle.</em>")</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Akali also gets to open the gifts Evelynn had mentioned. It wouldn't make any sense not to, seeing as how Evelynn had gone through the trouble of placing said gifts in a hulk of a treasure chest, complete with a key she presents to Akali with great ceremony. Among these treasures are a collection of trinkets Evelynn collected during her travels that reminded her of Akali, each tchotchke with a tale of its own underscoring Akali's <em>ooh</em>s and <em>ahh</em>s. Antique ashtrays that she will absolutely <em>not </em>be handling while stoned, daggers welded into sickening curls with sheaths just as intricate, handcrafted notebooks that Evelynn knows can't replace her old faithful one, but she would love for Akali to just have. Each souvenir serves as a materialistic little reminder of the extent of Evelynn's thoughtfulness - one form of showing love that she had taken a shining to, considering she has diamond-lined pockets.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>On the topic of treasures, Evelynn treats Akali to a Shopping Channel-style showcase of the new sex toys she'd accumulated over the years. Some, Akali had only ever seen in pictures and is grateful for the formal introduction. Others are brand new and fully charged for demonstration purposes. For example, Evelynn asks Akali to demonstrate how she might give her diva a "good seeing to" with a strapless cock, harness optional. The learning curve is worth the humor and the mutual orgasm.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Daylight burns as the pair cycles between lovemaking, aimless chatter, and snack breaks. One particular glance at the clock that brings Akali back to earth takes place as she lays, noodle-limbed in spread eagle, while Evelynn prods at her with a black and gold vibrator that looks like a pitchfork. If Akali thought she was numb before, the motor on that thing gives her a run for her money.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>She heaves a deep exhale. "Eve, stop. It's gonna fall off."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Gold eyes snap up from Akali's cunt up to her face. "I can stitch you right back up. I have the know-how."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Babe, come on."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"<em>Fine.</em>" Evelynn draws the pulsing toy backward with a ceremonious <em>gush </em>from between Akali's thighs. She watches Akali slowly peel herself off the soiled sheets and hobble to the bathroom with kind eyes as she stills the toy. Raising her voice just a touch, Evelynn offers, "We should get takeout."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Seated on the porcelain throne, Akali opens her mouth to agree, but thinking of the last meal she had is the last reminder of a certain group leader she needs to give in. Sighing, Akali decides, "I gotta go home, Eve. I have been sufficiently welcomed."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Evelynn is relatively silent as Akali finishes up in the bathroom, but the rogue thinks nothing of her diva's pouting after such an eventful day. She tosses her hair over her shoulder to fall down her back and, in a bragging sort of tone, she says, "Well, I have to run some errands, anyway."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Errands?"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"My love," Evelynn purrs as she slinks off the bed to meet Akali in front of it, blocking her path. Her grin laces her words. "You cannot let me get so fired up and expect me not to finish the job somewhere."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Just then, Akali really takes in the special glow in Evelynn's eyes, drops her gaze some to see her lashers seeming to breathe with her. Nodding in understanding, Akali appreciates the out Evelynn gives her. The last thing she would want to do is get in the way of her girl's hunting needs when just existing around Eve seems to be a good primer for torture. Had her victims known it was Akali behind some of her late-night snacking, they'd be doubly damned.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>With a delicate fingertip raising her lover's chin, Evelynn eyes Akali's proud expression with great sparkle. In an equal show of praise, Evelynn's next comment pours out in a tone of true wonder.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"You are so much more of a tease than you know. I watch you live this pretty little life, and I simply can't end it."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>The colorful compliment is one most would shudder at. For Akali, however, this is the highest form of acclaim. Not only can she quell the storm of a bloodthirsty demon by her hand - she is also that demon's Achilles heel.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>That said, she still has to get her kicks. "Maybe I <em>should </em>have stayed home today." Akali forces a fake shiver with her words and treats Eve to a special fake moan when her femme pretends to slap her.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Akali gets dressed fairly quickly, and this is never the case for Evelynn. At this point in their personal and professional relationships, Akali's saved her complaints about the process for when there's a meal on the line. Even so, she holds much reverence for being let into such a sacred ritual. Shit, Akali hadn't even seen a tabloid photo of Eve makeupless anywhere in the years before they met, and still was not privy to such a sight until well into their shared living arrangements. It is deeply gratifying to not only be present to see Evelynn decorate her perfect canvas, but to also be the first to shower the finished artwork in praise is priceless.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"This isn't too toned-down?" Evelynn asks of the satin number that presses her breasts high against her chest and cinched her already impossible waist.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Akali presses a kiss to knuckles adorned in gold claws, a tender gesture on gorgeous weaponry. "Dare I say your looks could kill?"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Raising her claws to ensure the praise is to her liking, Evelynn grins. "You've never been afraid to tell the truth, my love."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Welcoming Akali <em>home-</em>home first is Kai'Sa. She's an athletic vision in post-workout downtime: the dancer, seated on the arm of the empty couch, sips from a clear bottle with multiple forms of sliced citrus tumbling around in cold water and, judging by the grumpy look on her face, is watching herself dance on her phone screen. It's the door slamming that captures her attention and she takes out an earbud with a knowing grin that Akali rolls her eyes at, immediately. The gumiho is nowhere to be found, <em>yet</em>.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Thank goodness you're home! I was about to put a search party together." Placing her phone on her thigh and tucking her bottle at her elbow, Kai'Sa gives a light round of applause. "Evelynn, what would we do without you?"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Evelynn does a little skipping run to kiss both of Kai'Sa's cheeks with enthusiasm. "Have to deal with <em>this one's </em>moody ass. Listen, I can't stay, but give Ahri my love, will you, Bokkie?"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Kai'Sa catches one of Eve's cheeks with her own lips and keeps them pursed when the diva makes to turn away. She grumbles something about Ahri being in her room and "telling her <em>yourself,</em>" but the moment ends when Akali comes to her side to watch Evelynn leave. They share brief silence to reflect on the view, then Kai'Sa asks Akali, "So. Can you still walk?"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Nah, they had to wheel me here on a stretcher. It was pretty bad." Akali makes a spectacle of her various wounds and dressings; Kai'Sa whistles. "Surprised I made it out alive."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Was it weird? You two finally getting some one-on-one time?"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Akali swats at the fog of sex clouding her brain and, because Kai'Sa had always been her personal advice column, she divulges the information that isn't painted on her skin. Eve may not be around, but whispering is how she plans to not explode again at memory of their spat. "It <em>was </em>weird, Bokkie. I mean, it was fine. It was great. We caught up. I came a lot, got some gifts. But we were in bed and she started arguing with me out of <em>nowhere</em>. Brought up Qiyana, too."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Kai'Sa, herself, is bewildered. "<em>Qiyana?</em> Really? Again?"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Akali helps herself to a sip of Kai'Sa's water, remembers that she hates all the fruity shit she does to it, and promptly returns it directly to the dancer's hands. "That's what <em>I </em>said. Like, she brought up the randoms, too, but she kept saying I don't care about her and shit. I was so pissed. Still am, I think..."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Did you talk about it?" Kai'Sa's eyebrows knit into a worried line.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"We <em>fought </em>about it." Akali empathizes with the notion displayed on her friend's face. "We fucked about it."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Gentle, almost in resignation, Kai'Sa plants a hand on Akali's back and gives it a set of circular rubs. At this point, Akali's learned not to ask what it is Kai'Sa <em>means </em>by that. It's the mark of someone whose ear had been talked off about hypothetical heart-to-hearts Akali <em>swore </em>she would get around to and whatever new way her and Evelynn managed to skirt around them. She doesn't tell Kai'Sa this anymore, but she's also unsatisfied with the progress.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Speaking of Qiyana..." Akali nods at the device in sleep mode on Kai'Sa's lap. "You two still texting?"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>An array of emotions cycle across Kai'Sa's expressive, exquisitely sculpted face. Akali can't help but snort at the display. Kai'Sa yields her time with the response regardless with a quick flash of a middle finger.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Not... so much, lately. At least, not the way we <em>were</em>. No bad blood, or anything. It's just that Ahri... very pointedly let me know that she would prefer for the both of us to focus on our personal relationship. More or less exclusively, for the time being."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Akali struggles against a chortle. "Damn. Can <em>you </em>still walk?"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Kai'Sa shoves Akali hard on the shoulder and the full laugh cracks up her resolve at the moment of contact. She lets the shove bowl her over with her hands on her knees. In retort, Kai'Sa informs her fellow maknae, "Speaking of Ahri, she has a bone to pick with you. She hears you laughing like that when you blew her off, we'll both get in trouble. Scram."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>The way Akali's heart drops into her ass has her reminding herself that Ahri is <em>not </em>her mother waiting up for her daughter's return from sneaking out. However, the acute sensation that she's in trouble looms, deservedly. Bidding Kai'Sa adieu, Akali drags her feet as she sets off to right the wrong that doesn't feel right, the way some other wrongs have today. <em>Although, </em>Ahri's bedroom door is closed, so it would be plain rude to just barge in, so she keeps on trucking and trusts her leader to emerge when she's ready--</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Hey."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Ahri's cool tone is coupled with a hand seizing the back of her shirt. It's like her heart is being pulled through it, too, so she just freezes in the grip instead of trying to move in it, even towards the source. To that point, Ahri gives her a hand and pulls her into the doorway of her bedroom - not inside. She releases her hold, but Akali's pinned to the spot all the same with the folded arms and the quirked brow that Ahri meets her with.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Akali digs her toes into the hardwood floor. "Ahri... hey."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Do you want to tell me what you managed to get yourself into in the forty-five minutes I was gone?" One of Ahri's vulpine ears quirks to emphasize the question and Akali is blinded by the reflection in her gold, heart shaped earring. Doubly so, all nine of her tails are in their crystalline form, and Akali can see way too much of her wide-eyed face in them.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"I was accosted by a demon. It was terrifying." Akali mocks wiping sweat off her brow. "I mean, really, I was lucky to make it out alive."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Ahri rolls her eyes and lets her hands fall to her hips. She tells Akali, "You can't keep letting her win, you know. You'll only enable her."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Being spoken to gently the way Ahri does when she cares helps Akali bring the joker act to a close. With it, her shoulders sink a little helplessly and she leans her head against the door frame. "Can you blame me? I just... I've missed her so much, Ahri."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>The gumiho regards the human with warm eyes, medallion in colour. Given that she's spent all day staring into diamond white ones, Akali finds herself a bit fascinated by Ahri's pitch black pupils. They're still all prettied up by the makeup dusted perfectly onto her eyelids, the soft liner matching those soft lines that mark her cheeks. It's a lovely sight, the most beautiful face in K-pop. Ahri allows the stare. In fact, she cups Akali's jaw in her palms and runs her thumbs over her cheekbones.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Just when Akali starts to settle into the motion, Ahri mashes her cheeks into her skull with pinching fingers. While Akali complains, Ahri suggests, "And what if I missed you, hm? Did you think of that?"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>She doesn't let go until she feels Akali has properly begged for mercy. Either way, Ahri has the right to mess around, considering she'd been some of the most "in touch" with 'Kali in her new ventures as a group leader. All those contracts and negotiations for better pay for high quality work, mock interviews involving spray bottles as punishments for slip-ups, shit as unremarkable as making a decision on a new set of earrings when Akali couldn't were just some of the ways Ahri had a hand in making her musical dreams come true. More majorly, those centuries of supernatural companionship, though ultimately none of Akali's business, have been a diamond mine of answers to the perpetual question of <em>what the hell is up with Evelynn</em>.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>So, yeah, Akali might say she would die without Ahri. Or, at least, still be stuck in her bedroom doing covers for YouTube.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Ever forgiving, Ahri takes Akali in her arms and keeps her there while she talks. She graciously treats Akali to a wrap of a singular, "If it makes you feel better... or, if you don't already... Eve couldn't shut up about her little 'welcome home' plans for a week before you came home. And you know what it's like when <em>Evelynn </em>can't shut up. Did she wear the red teddy?"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Akali smiles and shakes her head. "Black."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Ah... that bitch never listens to me."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Peering at Ahri, Akali thinks of something useful to offer back. "I told her to have me back in three hours. Didn't listen to that, either."</p>
</div><div>
  <p>The pair put on matching smiles at the siren's stubbornness.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Always, though, Ahri brings things back into focus. "I'm not saying you can't have your fun. That's all I want for you, and for each one of us. But there's no fun without hard work, and that includes the work we do with <em>each other </em>just as much as the work we do <em>together</em>. You know what I mean, 'Kali?"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Akali nods in true understanding. She wonders if it's worth it to get into everything her and Evelynn had discussed, or hadn't, or not-discussed but mentioned that day. Yet, somehow, it feels more like Evelynn's story to tell. Besides, she would have to preserve her energy to update her <em>separate </em>friend group on the day's events.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"I need a nap," announces Akali.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>"Need a bottle, too?"</p>
</div><div>
  <p>Ahri earns a shove on the shoulder for the dig. In return, she brings the top of Akali's head to her lips, and advises her to get some much-needed rest before they all start getting on each other's nerves again. Akali scoffs at the assumption that such a thing hasn't happened yet and, <em>yeah</em>, they need to catch up.</p>
</div><div>
  <p>First, Akali needs to catch up with wherever she left her self-control. Likely, it's down the drain of the kitchen sink, into the gutter with the rest of her and Evelynn's dirty dishes. </p>
</div>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>song selections in order are Shotgun by Little Simz featuring Syd (featured on my <a href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7vaVcBIJFJm0C9FwRNpbvX?si=NUjOKXoLSUad_M7kTQ7Y2w&amp;utm_source=copy-link">Akali playlist</a>), Moment by Victoria Monét (featured on my <a href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2Tu5VMWUoe8WbfhMv57Ck9?si=wqWfossCReya8IN3-NhOIQ&amp;utm_source=copy-link">Akalynn playlist</a>), and Warm Pants by Dua Saleh (which should probably be on my Akalynn playlist).</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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